Danish translation, cultural adaptation and psychometric testing of the Brachial Assessment Tool (BrAT), designed to assess activity limitation in adults with traumatic brachial plexus injuries.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To translate and cross-culturally adapt The Brachial Assessment Tool (BrAT) into Danish and assess its content validity and reproducibility in adults with traumatic brachial plexus injury (BPI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Translation followed international guidelines. BrAT(DK) were cognitive tested with 19 adults with traumatic BPI to evaluate cross-cultural understanding, relevance, comprehensiveness and comprehensibility. Content validity and reproducibility were evaluated following the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments guideline. Participants were recruited from an outpatient hand clinic. Test-retest reliability was assessed using intra-class-correlation coefficient (ICC) and the smallest detectable change (SDC). Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: Minor cultural differences were observed in the content validity analysis of BrAT(DK). Cognitive testing revealing no significant issues. All participants found the items relevant and important. 63 participants with traumatic BPI were recruited; 49 completed the retest. ICC values for the sub-scales and the total score ranged from 0.91 to 0.95 (95% CI 0.85 to 0.97). Internal consistency ranged from 0.87 to 0.98. SDC ranged from 4.16 to 9.63 for subscales and 16.01 for the total score. CONCLUSION: BrAT(DK) appeared to be content valid and reliabel as a measure of activity limitation in adults with traumatic BPI.

The Brachial Assessment Tool (BrAT) has been cross-cultural translated into DanishBrAT(DK) shows adequate content validity for activity limitation in adults with traumatic brachial plexus injuryBrAT(DK) is a reliable measure, with a smallest detectable change of 16.01 points for the total scaleWe recommend the use of BrAT(DK) in clinical practice to inform goal setting and future interventions and treatment evaluations.