The Barthel Index (BI) is widely used to measure disability also in
Italy, although a validated and culturally adapted Italian version of
BI has not been produced yet. This article describes the translation
and cultural adaptation into Italian of the original 10-item version of
BI, and reports the procedures for testing its validity and reliability.
The cultural adaptation and validation process was based on data
from a cohort of disabled patients from two different Rehabilitation
Centers in Rome, Italy.
Forward and backward translation method was adopted by
qualified linguist and independent native English official translators.
The scale obtained was reviewed by 20 experts in psychometric
sciences. The Italian adapted version of the BI was then produced
and validated. A total number of 180 patients were submitted to the
adapted scale for testing its acceptability and internal consistency.
The total time of compilation was 5 ± 2,6 minutes (range 3-10).
Validation of the scale was performed by 7 trained professional
therapists that submitted both the translated and the adapted
versions to a group of 62 clinically stable patients (T-test=-2.051
p=0.05). The internal consistency by Cronbach’s alpha resulted
equal to 0.96. Test – retest intra – rater reliability was evaluated
on 35 cases; at test-retest was ICC=0.983 (95%IC: 0.967-0.992).
This is the first study that reports translation, adaptation and
validation of the BI in Italian language. It provides a new tool for
professionals to measure functional disability when appraising
Italian speaking disable patients in health and social care settings
along the continuum of care
