Page 52 - Portuguese Journal - SPORL - Vol 61. Nº1

caretakers and can be used as the first step limitation of this study. This limitation will be
to assess the impact of a balance disorder overcome after evaluating the instrument’s
on a child’s daily life. Additionally, it helps validity, making it possible to use the
determine the magnitude of the unsteadiness instrument in clinical practice or research.
when the child’s history is indicative or when The validation of this instrument is important
they have a history of sensorineural hearing for clinical use—the evaluation and follow-up
loss. It may also help the clinician determine of pediatric patients with symptoms of vertigo,
whether it is necessary to refer the child for a unsteadiness, and/or dizziness. The clinical
formal evaluation of the vestibular function use of instruments that have already been
and monitor the response to the chosen validated internationally and then culturally
treatment. The DHI-PC has been translated adapted for use in Portugal allows comparison
and subsequently validated to be used in the of the results because the instruments are
Korean pediatric population. 13 used in countries with different cultural
The simple translation of a questionnaire can contexts.
lead to erroneous interpretations because
of cultural and idiomatic differences (9). Conclusion
Regarding the questionnaire instructions, the The original version of the DHI-PC was
term “tontura” (dizziness) was used rather translated and adapted for use in the pediatric
than “tontura/vertigem” (dizziness/vertigo) population presenting with vestibular
to translate “dizziness” for simplification and symptoms. Its validation, to be performed in
better understanding by the Portuguese the second stage, will allow its clinical use for
population. Additionally, in item 7, the the evaluation and follow-up of Portuguese
panel decided to replace “tenso”—the literal children with vestibular disorders.
translation of the word “tense”—with the word
“ansioso” (anxious). After the discussions in Conflicts of Interest
the focus groups, the committee of specialists The authors declare that there is no conflict
decided to alter item 1, largely because most of interests regarding the publication of this
parents/caretakers erroneously interpreted paper.
the translation (Table 1). The correction of the
sentence’s structure allowed the retention of Data Confidentiality
the original meaning while making it clearer. The authors declare having followed the
In items 8 and 12, the terms of “enervadas” protocols in use at their working center
(irritated) and “infeliz” (unhappy) in the literal regarding patients’ data publication.
translation were replaced because of the
excessively negative connotation in European Protection of humans and animals
Portuguese. In item 18, the example “riding a The authors declare that the procedures
scooter or roller skating” was finally translated were followed according to the regulations
as “andar de trotinete ou patins” instead of established by the Clinical Research and Ethics
“riding a scooter” for a better adaptation to Committee and to the 2013 Helsinki Declaration
the reality of Portuguese children. of the World Medical Association.
After the cultural adaptation of the DHI-PC,
the next step was checking whether the new Funding Sources
version retains the psychometric characteristics This work did not receive any contribution,
of the original instrument. It is important to funding or scholarship.
evaluate the validity (discriminative capacity),
reliability (item to total score correlations and Availability of scientific data
internal consistency and test-retest reliability), There are no datasets available, publicly related
and response to clinical change, which was a to this work.

52 Portuguese Journal of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery