The Brazilian Portuguese version of the revised Maastricht Upper Extremity Questionnaire (MUEQ-Br revised): translation, cross-cultural adaptation, reliability, and structural validation

BACKGROUND: Complaints of the arm, neck, and shoulders (CANS) have a multifactorial etiology, and, therefore, their assessment should consider both work-related ergonomic and psychosocial aspects. The Maastricht Upper Extremity Questionnaire (MUEQ) is one of a few specific tools available to evaluate the nature and occurrence of CANS in computer-office workers and the impact of psychosocial and ergonomic aspects on work conditions. The purpose of the present study was to perform a translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the MUEQ to Brazilian Portuguese and verify the reliability, internal consistency, and structural validity of the MUEQ in Brazilian computer-office workers. METHODS: The cross-cultural adaptation consisted of five stages (forward translation of the MUEQ to Brazilian Portuguese, synthesis of the translation, back-translation, expert committee meeting, and the pre-final-version test). In the pre-final-version test, 55 computer-office workers participated. For reproducibility, a sample of 50 workers completed the questionnaire twice within a one-week interval. A sample of 386 workers from the University of São Paulo (mean age = 37.44 years; 95% confidence interval: 36.50–38.38; 216 women and 170 men) participated on the structural validation and internal consistency analysis. Intraclass correlation coefficient was used for the statistical analysis of reproducibility, Cronbach’s alpha was used for internal consistency, and confirmatory factor analysis was used for structural validity. RESULTS: The calculation of internal consistency, reproducibility, and cross validation provided evidence of reliability and lack of redundancy. The psychometric properties of the modified MUEQ-Br revised were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis, which revealed 6 factors and 41 questions. For this model, the comparative fit index (CFI), goodness-of-fit index (GFI), and non-normed fit index (NNFI) each achieved 0.90, and the consistent Akaike information criterion (CAIC), chi-square, expected cross-validation index (ECIV), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) demonstrated better values. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide a basis for using the 41-item MUEQ-Br revised for the assessment of computer-office workers’ perceptions of the psychosocial and ergonomic aspects of CANS and musculoskeletal-complaint characterization. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12891-015-0497-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.