Linguistic Validation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Post-COVID-19 Functional Status Scale for the Chilean Population
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Published on: August 29, 2025
Luz Alejandra Lorca1, Rodrigo Torres-Castro, Ivana Leao Ribeiro
1From the Hospital del Salvador, Servicio de Salud Metropolitano Oriente, Santiago de Chile (LAL, PB, MP, BSC, JU, CL, CH, AM); Departamento de Kinesiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile (RT-C); and Departamento de Kinesiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile (ILR).
Background:
Patients with COVID-19 can present functional status and disability alterations in the medium- and long-term. On the international level, a multicentered study is being carried out to validate the Post-COVID-19 Functional Status scale for different nations, thus allowing visualizing the needs for a multidisciplinary approach and planning intervention plans. The objective of this study was to perform a linguistic validation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Post-COVID-19 Functional Status scale for people infected with COVID-19 for the Chilean population.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study of scale validation was carried out. The study was performed in two phases: (1) forward-translation, reverse-translation and (2) apparent cross-validity adaptation. For the apparent validity analysis, 29 individuals who had been hospitalized in Hospital del Salvador with a COVID-19 infection diagnosis and at the time of the interview were in their homes participated.
Results:
In phase 1 forward-translation, an item required semantical changes. The reverse-translation versions were similar, and the most relevant doubts were resolved in a consensus meeting. In phase 2, the pilot study confirmed adequate understanding and scale applicability.
Conclusions:
Using a systematic and rigorous methodology allowed obtaining a Spanish version of the Post-COVID-19 Functional Status scale for Chile, which is conceptually and linguistically equivalent to the original instrument and adequate to assess the functional status of people infected with COVID-19.
