Objective: To adapt and validate a Brazilian Portuguese version of the European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale.
Methods: The cross-cultural adaptation (translation, synthesis, back-translation, expert committee review, and pretesting) and validation (assessment of face validity, content validity, and internal consistency reliability) were carried out in accordance with the literature. The European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale assesses key components of self-care: recognition of the signs and symptoms of decompensated heart failure (HF) and decision-making when these signs and symptoms arise. It comprises 12 items (range 12-60, where lower scores indicate better self-care).
Results: The sample comprised 124 HF patients with a mean age of 62.3 ± 12 years. The Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency was 0.70 and the intraclass correlation coefficient for reproducibility was 0.87.
Conclusion: Face and content validity, internal consistency and reproducibility have lended validity and reliability for the use of the instrument in Brazil.