Cross-cultural adaptation and clinical validation of the Neonatal Skin Condition Score to Brazilian Portuguese

OBJECTIVE: to describe the process of cross-cultural adaptation and clinical validation of the Neonatal Skin Condition Score. METHODS: this methodological cross-cultural adaptation study included five steps: initial translation, synthesis of the initial translation, back translation, review by an Committee of Specialists and testing of the pre-final version, and an observational cross-sectional study with analysis of the psychometric properties using the Adjusted Kappa, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient, and Bland-Altman Method statistical tests. A total of 38 professionals were randomly recruited to review the clarity of the adapted instrument, and 47 newborns hospitalized in the Neonatology Unit of the Clinical Hospital of Porto Alegre were selected by convenience for the clinical validation of the instrument. RESULTS: the adapted scale showed approximately 85% clarity. The statistical tests showed moderate to strong intra and interobserver item to item reliability and from strong to very strong in the total score, with a variation of less than 2 points among the scores assigned by the nurses to the patients. CONCLUSIONS: the scale was adapted and validated to Brazilian Portuguese. The psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the Neonatal Skin Condition Score instrument were similar to the validation results of the original scale.