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. 2022 Nov 10;23(1):974.
doi: 10.1186/s12891-022-05951-0.

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation of the Athlete Fear Avoidance Questionnaire (AFAQ) into Brazilian Portuguese

Jodimar Ribeiro Dos Reis-Junior  1 , Daniela Bassi-Dibai  2 , Daniel Nunes Morais  1 , André Pontes-Silva  3   4 , Letícia Padilha Mendes  1 , Jocassia Silva Pinheiro  1 , Cid André Fidelis-de-Paula-Gomes  5 , Almir Vieira Dibai-Filho  1   6
Affiliations

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation of the Athlete Fear Avoidance Questionnaire (AFAQ) into Brazilian Portuguese

Jodimar Ribeiro Dos Reis-Junior et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Psychological factors play an important role in the adequate return of an athlete to sport. Our aim was to perform the translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation of the Athlete Fear Avoidance Questionnaire (AFAQ) into Brazilian Portuguese.

Methods: We performed the translation and cross-cultural adaptation and evaluated the structural validity, construct validity, and test-retest reliability. In addition to the AFAQ, we used the Numerical Pain Scale (NPS), Pain-Related Catastrophizing Thoughts Scale (PCTS), Self-Estimated Functional Inability because of Pain Questionnaire for athletes (SEFIP-sport), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). We used the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to analyze the internal structure of the AFAQ. We used the Spearman's correlation coefficient (rho) to determine the magnitude of correlation between the AFAQ and the other instruments. We evaluated the test-retest reliability and internal consistency by means of intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cronbach's alpha, respectively.

Results: No adaptation was necessary to produce the AFAQ version in Brazilian Portuguese. We included 160 participants in the study. We identified the one-dimensionality of the AFAQ through the EFA with the implementation of parallel analysis (KMO = 0.83, p < 0.001 in Bartlett's Sphericity test). In construct validity, the magnitudes of correlation between the AFAQ and the other instruments ranged from 0.257 to 0.548. We identified adequate reliability (ICC = 0.85) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.90).

Conclusion: The Brazilian version of the AFAQ with one domain and 10 items has adequate measurement properties in injured professional and recreational athletes.

Keywords: Reproducibility of results; Sports; Surveys and questionnaires.

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Conflict of interest statement

AVDF and CAFPG are Associate Editors of the BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Scree plot of the parallel analysis demonstrating the one-dimensionality of the Athlete Fear Avoidance Questionnaire (AFAQ)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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