Translation and validation of the Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire (TRAQ)

To translate and validate the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire in a population of adolescents and young adults with chronic rheumatologic disorders. This questionnaire evaluates the patient's readiness for making the transition from the pediatric health service to adult care.

The four-phase methodology for the translation and validation of generic questionnaires was followed, including translation, back-translation, pilot testing and clinical validation of the final tool. The confirmatory factor analysis was used for clinical validation and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to assess the overall internal consistency of the final tool.

A total of 150 patients with a mean age of 17.0 years (SD=2.2 years, range 14-21 years) were enrolled for the final tool validation. Of those, 71 patients had juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (47.3%), 64 had juvenile idiopathic arthritis (42.7%), and 15 had juvenile dermatomyositis (10%). During the confirmatory factor analysis, the dimension "Talking with providers" consisting of two questions, was considered as not fitting the translated questionnaire due to a very high ceiling effect and was therefore excluded. All other translated items favorably contributed to the overall consistency of the final tool; removing that dimension did not result in a substantial increase in Cronbach's alpha, which was 0.776.

The Brazilian Portuguese version of the Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire was validated in a population of transitional patients with chronic rheumatologic disorders, after one dimension from the original questionnaire was excluded. It is a non-specific disease questionnaire; thus, it can be used to evaluate the transition readiness of Brazilian patients with other chronic diseases.