Objective: To translate and culturally adapt to Portuguese the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index Spinal Cord Injury - Version III and characterize the sample in relation to sociodemographic and clinical aspects.
Method: A methodological study with view to cross-cultural adaptation, following the particular steps of this method: initial translation, translation synthesis, back-translation (translation back to the original language), review by a committee of judges and pretest of the final version. The pretest was carried out with 30 patients with spinal cord injury.
Results: An index of 74 items divided into two parts (satisfaction/importance) was obtained. The criteria of semantic equivalence were evaluated as very adequate translation, higher than 87%, and vocabulary and were grammar higher than 86%. Idiomatic equivalence was higher than 74%, experimental greater than 78% and conceptual was greater than 70%.
Conclusion: After cross-cultural adaptation, the instrument proved semantic, idiomatic, experimental and conceptual adequacy, in addition to helping the evaluation of the quality of life of people with spinal cord injury.