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Cross-cultural adaptation of visual reproduction subtest of wechsler memory scale fourth edition (WMS-IV) to a Brazilian context

Abstract:

Objective: Instruments for evaluation of non-verbal memory are scarce in Brazil. The Visual Reproduction (VR) I and II is part of the Wechsler Memory Scale and they are considered the gold standard among assessment measures of memory. The aim of the present study was the cross-cultural adaptation of the subtest Visual Reproduction of Wechsler Memory Scale -fourth edition (VR-IV) and to evaluate its preliminary psychometric properties. Method: The assessment of the subjects and data analysis followed the methodology recommended by American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association and the National Council on Measurement in Education (2009). Eighty five healthy adult volunteers and 29 adult right middle cerebral artery (RMCA) stroke patients were evaluated. The adaptation of VR-IV included a group of experts and translators who performed the conceptual, items, semantic, and operational equivalence. Some psychometric properties of the instrument were evaluated. Results: All the equivalence categories were obtained in the Portuguese adaptation. Considering the total sample of healthy group correlation coefficients were obtained and they had a signifcant value. Scale reliability showing moderate correlations that indicate the temporal stability of the instrument. RMCA stroke patients obtained lower raw scores in all tasks of VR-IV, when compared to control group. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the VR-IV adaption to the Portuguese language has cultural reliability and validity for use in Brazil. The performance of RMCA stroke patients and paired controls was best evaluated using contrast scaled scores when compared to the performance using each variable isolated. The contrast scaled scores permitted to notice that the RMCA stroke patients had limitations in encoding and retrieving the learning information. © 2013 Giovanni Fioriti Editore s.r.l.