Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and applicability of the Brazilian version of the Frontotemporal Dementia Rating Scale (FTD-FRS)

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and applicability of the Brazilian version of the Frontotemporal Dementia Rating Scale (FTD-FRS)

Dementia & Neuropsychologia, January 2013

29213863

Thais Bento Lima-Silva, Valéria Santoro Bahia, Viviane Amaral Carvalho, Henrique Cerqueira Guimarães, Paulo Caramelli, Márcio Balthazar, Benito Damasceno, Cássio Machado de Campos Bottino, Sônia Maria Dozzi Brucki, Eneida Mioshi, Ricardo Nitrini, Mônica Sanches Yassuda

Staging scales for dementia have been devised for grading Alzheimer's disease (AD) but do not include the specific symptoms of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). To translate and adapt the Frontotemporal Dementia Rating Scale (FTD-FRS) to Brazilian Portuguese. The cross-cultural adaptation process consisted of the following steps: translation, back-translation (prepared by independent translators), discussion with specialists, and development of a final version after minor adjustments. A pilot application was carried out with 12 patients diagnosed with bvFTD and 11 with AD, matched for disease severity (CDR=1.0). The evaluation protocol included: Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Executive Interview (EXIT-25), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), Frontotemporal Dementia Rating Scale (FTD-FRS) and Clinical Dementia Rating scale (CDR). The Brazilian version of the FTD-FRS seemed appropriate for use in this country. Preliminary results revealed greater levels of disability in bvFTD than in AD patients (bvFTD: 25% mild, 50% moderate and 25% severe; AD: 36.36% mild, 63.64% moderate). It appears that the CDR underrates disease severity in bvFTD since a relevant proportion of patients rated as having mild dementia (CDR=1.0) in fact had moderate or severe levels of disability according to the FTD-FRS. The Brazilian version of the FTD-FRS seems suitable to aid staging and determining disease progression.