The adaptation of the Burn Specific Health Scale-Revised (BSHS-R) into the Portuguese context

The objective of this study was the adaptation of the Burn Specific Health Scale-Revised (BSHS-R) into the Portuguese context. The authors of the original version of BSHS-R with 31 items are Blalock, Bunker and DeVellis and it was developed to evaluate the health status of burns victims. The Brazilian version of the BSHS-R was translated from Portuguese (Brazil) to Portuguese (Portugal), through a semantic adaptation process, by independent Portuguese-Brazilian specialists, followed by a verbal comprehension assessment of all items, with a heterogeneous group of people, in terms of age, education and occupation. After the survey adaptation to Portuguese (Portugal), a psychometric study of the BSHS-R has been realized with a sample of 92 patients, which had been hospitalized in the Burn, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery units of the Prelada Hospital, Porto, Portugal. For the process of instrument validation, a factorial exploratory analysis has been conducted and the internal consistency indicators were analysed using Cronbach's alpha (reliability). The results analysis allowed to assess and identify the validity of the construct through the factorial exploratory analysis, which confirmed the same previous factorial structure identified in the original language and in the Brazilian version. The BSHS-R also presented good internal consistency indicators (global α = .921; affect and body image α = .874; heat sensitivity α = .830; simple functional abilities α = .893; treatment regimens α = .772; work α = .876; interpersonal relationships α = .804). The Portuguese (Portugal) adapted version has revealed useful, valid and reliable for the quality of life assessment related to the health of people that suffered burn injuries.