Spanish Revised Memory and Behavior Problems Checklist Scale (SpRMBPC): trans-cultural adaptation and validation of the RMBPC questionnaire

Background: The use of standardized scales is critical for monitoring the interventions within and between different populations, but the current Spanish tools are dispersed in several scales. A simple tool for simultaneously and exhaustively evaluating patient's symptoms and caregiver's distress in Spanish-speaking groups is needed. Methods: RMBPC was translated into Spanish by cross-cultural adaptation. Comprehensibility and easiness of SpRMBPC were evaluated with 92 patient-caregiver dyads. Reliability, stability and scale structure were evaluated by Cronbach's a, test-retest and factor analysis respectively. Concurrent and discriminant validity were assessed by correlation with validated tools for measuring stage of dementia; memory, disruptive behaviors and depression symptoms of the patients; and anxiety, depression and burden of the caregivers (CDR, MMSE, NPIq, NPIdisruption, NPI depression, HADS-A; HADS-D and Zarit Burden Interview respectively). Results: Almost all caregivers completed the questionnaire (97% completeness; 7.5% missing data). Both the frequency of Patient's Symptoms and Caregiver Reaction scores and subscores displayed high stability and reliability. All of these scores correlated positively with their respective validated tools as predicted, except with MMSE. The patients' subscores for Disruptive Behaviors and Memory Impairment displayed their highest correlation with the disruptive symptoms and level of dementia validated tools. Conclusions: SpRMBPC is a validated tool for assessing the dementia stage and the psychiatric morbidity of patients and caregivers. The Frequency Disruption and Memory subscales assess specifically patient's disruptive symptoms and dementia stages. These tools can be applied to analyze the burden of the patient's disease and the caregiver's distress in Spanish-speaking populations.