Brazilian-Portuguese Validation Assessment of the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index for Patients After Laparoendoscopic Cholecystectomy

Background: Cholelithiasis is currently one of the most common diagnosis in Brazil. The aim of this study was to validate the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) as a quality-of-life (QoL) assessment among the Brazilian population with syntomatic gallstone. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire was translated and culturally adapted after the linguistic validation process determined by the international methodology. Sixty-three patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy responded to the GIQLI-Brazil and Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) instruments. For the evaluation of reproducibility, 30 patients responded to GIQLI-Brazil two more times after 2 and 4 weeks. After the University of Sao Paulo Ethics Commitee Board approval (UNIFESP/CEP: 1270/2019), the study was carryed out between May 2019 and February 2020 at the Gastroenterology outpatient clinic of Hospital Sao Paulo-Federal University of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP). Cronbach's alpha, the calculation of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and Spearman's correlation were used to assess the validity and reproducibility of the instrument translated into Portuguese, and to measure correlation between the domains of the GIQLI-Brazil and SF-36 (P < .05). Results: Seven questions were modified during the process of translation and cultural adaptation. The Brazilian version of the instrument presented a Cronbach's alpha of 0.89, and excellent reproducibility through the ICC, with the following variation between domains: meteorism (ICC = 0.918; P < .001) and gastrointestinal function (lower tract) (ICC = 0.956; P < .001). The dimensions of the GIQLI-Brazil and SF-36 demonstrated a significant correlation (P < .001), except between the domains: functional aspects of the SF-36 and gastrointestinal function (lower tract) of the GIQLI-Brazil (r = 0.211). Conclusion: The GIQLI was translated and validated for Portuguese-Brazil and can be used to assess the QoL of adult patients with gastrointestinal diseases and/or disorders.