Background: The assessment of female sexual function after diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer is relevant, as cancer can negatively affect sexuality and, therefore, quality of life. Instruments assessing female sexuality can be useful in clinical practice. However, there are few validated instruments available for this purpose. This study aimed to translate the Female Sexual Function Index Adaptation for Breast Cancer Patients (FSFI-BC) into Brazilian Portuguese and culturally adapt it for use in Brazil.
Patients and methods: Translation and cross-cultural adaptation followed the linguistic validation process, according to international guidelines. The instrument was translated and back-translated by independent translators. Sixty women aged 25 to 70 years who had been diagnosed and surgically treated for breast cancer at least 6 months previously participated in the cultural adaptation process. Participants were stratified into sexually active or inactive. Internal consistency was analyzed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient.
Results: Mean participant age was 52.5 years. For sexually active women, reliability analysis (Cronbach's alpha) showed excellent internal consistency between the items of the subscales 'Desire/Arousal' (α = 0.912) and 'Orgasm' (α = 0.904), and good internal consistency for 'Lubrication' (α = 0.814) and 'Pain' (α = 0.839). For sexually inactive women, excellent internal consistency was observed between the items of the subscale 'Reason for Inactivity - difficulty lubricating' (α = 0.930), and good internal consistency for the other subscales. The instrument had face and content validity.
Conclusions: FSFI-BC was translated and culturally adapted to the context of the Brazilian population.
Keywords: Breast neoplasms, Cross-cultural comparison, Quality of life; Sexuality, Surveys and questionnaires.
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