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Translation and cross-cultural adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese of two brief screening tools for youth at risk of psychosis: the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) and the PRIME-Screen

Abstract

Introduction

Prodromal characteristics of psychosis have been described for more than a century. Over the last three decades, a variety of studies have proposed methods to prospectively identify individuals (and youth in particular) who are at high risk of developing a psychotic disorder. These studies have validated various screening instruments and made them available in several languages. Here, we describe the translation into Brazilian Portuguese and cross-cultural adaptation of two such screening tools – the Prodromal Questionnaire-16 (PQ-16) and the Prevention through Risk Identification, Management, and Education (PRIME)-Screen.

Method

Two bilingual native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese translated the questionnaires from English. A native English speaker then performed back-translations into English. These back-translated versions were submitted to the original authors. They provided feedback and later approved the final versions.

Results

After translation and cross-cultural adaptation, no items needed to be changed in the adapted PQ-16 and four items were revised in the PRIME-Screen. After the peer-review process, we included two suggestions in the PQ-16 to facilitate use of the tool in our cultural and social contexts. The PRIME-Screen did not need further changes.

Conclusion

These new instruments can help screen Brazilian Portuguese-speaking patients who are at risk of psychosis in primary care.

Psychosis; screening tools; at-risk mental states; ultra-high risk

Introduction

Psychotic disorders are the ninth-leading cause of global health problems.11. Perälä J, Suvisaari J, Saarni SI, Kuoppasalmi K, Isometsä E, Pirkola S, et al. Lifetime prevalence of psychotic and bipolar I disorders in a general population. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007;64:19-28.

2. Wittchen HU, Jacobi F, Rehm J, Gustavsson A, Svensson M, Jönsson B, et al. The size and burden of mental disorders and other disorders of the brain in Europe 2010. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2011;21:655-79.
-33. Mathers C, Ma Fat D, Boerma T, World Health Organization (WHO). The global burden of disease: 2004 update. Genebra: WHO; 2004. People who suffer from these disorders often face delayed identification and treatment of their condition.44. Jeppesen P, Petersen L, Thorup A, Abel MB, Øhlenschlaeger J, Christensen TØ, et al. The association between pre-morbid adjustment, duration of untreated psychosis and outcome in first-episode psychosis. Psychol Med. 2008;38:1157-66. In addition, patients often report subthreshold symptoms that are associated with mild to moderate functional impairment before their first episode of psychosis (FEP), which typically occur from weeks to months before the full-blown psychosis. Prospective assessment of subsyndromal symptoms enabled researchers to identify patients who were at higher risk of developing psychosis, which led to definition of the at-risk mental states (ARMS). Previous studies have developed brief questionnaires to screen for ARMS, but to date few have been available for low- and middle-income countries.

Some commonly reported subthreshold psychotic symptoms that characterize the ARMS syndrome include thought disorders, altered beliefs, and changes in perception and speech. In the early 1990s, an Australian group led by McGorry and Yung developed a semi-structured clinical interview to prospectively assess young people who presented such symptoms. They called their interview the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS).55. Yung AR, McGorry PD, McFarlane CA, Jackson HJ, Patton GC, Rakkar A. Monitoring and care of young people at incipient risk of psychosis. Schizophr Bull. 1996;22:283-303.,66. Yung AR, Yuen HP, McGorry PD, Phillips LJ, Kelly D, Dell’Olio M, et al. Mapping the onset of psychosis: the comprehensive assessment of at-risk mental states. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2005;39:964-71. A few years later, an American group called Prevention through Risk Identification, Management, and Education (PRIME) developed their Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndrome (SIPS). This tool aimed to evaluate the same phenotype.77. Miller TJ, McGlashan TH, Woods SW, Stein K, Driesen N, Corcoran CM, et al. Symptom assessment in schizophrenic prodromal states. Psychiatr Q. 1999;70:273-87. These tools have been proven to reliably identify people who are in ARMS and have opened the door for a new field of study called early intervention in psychiatry.88. McGorry PD. Early intervention in psychosis: obvious, effective, overdue. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2015;203:310-8. Comparative studies have found that both instruments perform similarly and both were able to identify people who are likely to transition from ARMS to full psychosis after two years.99. Fusar-Poli P, Bonoldi I, Yung AR, Borgwardt S, Kempton MJ, Valmaggia L, et al. Predicting psychosis: meta-analysis of transition outcomes in individuals at high clinical risk. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012;69:220-9.

Early intervention has already become government policy in several developed countries (e.g., Australia and United Kingdom). However, implementing early intervention in clinical practice has proven to be a challenge. For instance, it is difficult to identify ARMS subjects correctly. To conduct CAARMS and SIPS interviews, clinicians require extensive training, specialized staff, and considerable time to administer the interviews. Consequently, using these interviews to identify people who are at risk of developing psychosis in daily clinical practice is unfeasible, especially in low-resource settings. Over time, these challenges led to development of self-reported screening tools such as the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ) and the PRIME-Screen.1010. Kline E, Schiffman J. Psychosis risk screening: a systematic review. Schizophr Res. 2014;158:11-8.

The long version of the PQ has been proven to have adequate psychometric properties and a fair degree of reliability.1111. Loewy RL, Bearden CE, Johnson JK, Raine A, Cannon TD. The prodromal questionnaire (PQ): preliminary validation of a self-report screening measure for prodromal and psychotic syndromes. Schizophr Res. 2005;79:117-25.,1212. Kotzalidis GD, Solfanelli A, Piacentino D, Savoja V, Fiori Nastro P, Curto M, et al. The Italian version of the 92-item Prodromal Questionnaire: Concurrent validity with the SIPS and factor analysis in a sample of 258 outpatients aged 11-36years. Schizophr Res. 2017;189:50-6. It has also been translated into Portuguese.1313. Gonçalves PD, Martins PA, Gordon P, Louzã M. Prodromal questionnaire: translation, adaptation to Portuguese and preliminary results in ultra-high risk individuals and first episode psychosis. J Bras Psiquiatr. 2012;61:96-101. Unfortunately, this 92-item questionnaire is very long and therefore not appropriate as a screening tool for use in non-specialized settings. A Dutch group recently tested a condensed version of the tool – the PQ-16 – and demonstrated that it is a reliable and much more time-effective tool.1414. Ising HK, Veling W, Loewy RL, Rietveld MW, Rietdijk J, Dragt S, et al. The validity of the 16-item version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) to screen for ultra high risk of developing psychosis in the general help-seeking population. Schizophr Bull. 2012;38:1288-96. Similarly, the North-American group developed the PRIME-Screen, a brief questionnaire based on the SIPS.1515. Miller TJ, Chicchetti D, Markovich PJ, McGlashan TH, Woods SW. The SIPS Screen: a brief self-report screen to detect the schizophrenia prodrome. Schizophr Res. 2004;70:78. The PRIME-Screen is more specific and sensitive than most other screening tools.1616. Addington J, Stowkowy J, Weiser M. Screening tools for clinical high risk for psychosis. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2015;9:345-56. Consequently, the PRIME-Screen has been widely adopted in studies of early detection of psychosis that use a two-stage screening process, comprising an initial brief screening procedure and a subsequent clinical interview.1717. Schiffman J. Considerations for the development and implementation of brief screening tools in the identification of early psychosis. Schizophr Res. 2018;199:41-3.

To date, there are no brief screening instruments for ARMS available in Brazilian Portuguese. Therefore, this study performs and describes the translation into Brazilian Portuguese and cross-cultural adaptation of the PQ-16 and the PRIME-Screen.

Method

Prior to beginning the translation process, the authors of the present study obtained consent from the authors of the original screening tools to translate their work. We followed the guidelines proposed by Guillemin et al.1818. Guillemin F, Bombardier C, Beaton D. Cross-cultural adaptation of health-related quality of life measures: literature review and proposed guidelines. J Clin Epidemiol. 1993;46:1417-32. for cross-cultural adaptation of psychometric instruments.

The PQ-16 has 16 items – nine items related to perceptual abnormalities, five items related to changes in thought content, and two items related to negative symptoms.1414. Ising HK, Veling W, Loewy RL, Rietveld MW, Rietdijk J, Dragt S, et al. The validity of the 16-item version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) to screen for ultra high risk of developing psychosis in the general help-seeking population. Schizophr Bull. 2012;38:1288-96.,1919. Savill M, D’Ambrosio J, Cannon TD, Loewy RL. Psychosis risk screening in different populations using the Prodromal Questionnaire: a systematic review. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2018;12:3-14. Respondents mark their response to each item as true or false and also provide an answer on a Likert-type scale that ranks their level of associated distress on a scale from “0” (no distress) to “3” (severe distress).

The PRIME-Screen has 12 items. It is based on the positive symptom domain of the SIPS, which tracks presence of unusual mental activity such as ideas of grandeur and persecution, hallucinatory experiences, and lack of insight.2020. Miller TJ, McGlashan TH, Rosen JL, Cadenhead K, Cannon T, Ventura J, et al. Prodromal assessment with the structured interview for prodromal syndromes and the scale of prodromal symptoms: predictive validity, interrater reliability, and training to reliability. Schizophr Bull. 2003;29:703-15. Respondents indicate how much they agree or disagree with the propositions in each item regarding their experiences in the past year using a Likert-type scale ranging from “0” (definitely disagree) to “6” (definitely agree).

Our translation process included the following steps: 1) we obtained consent from the authors to translate their work; 2) two bilingual native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese independently translated the instruments into Brazilian Portuguese; 3) two psychiatrists with experience in ARMS clinical practice revised these translations; 4) a native English speaker performed back-translations into English; 5) these back-translated versions were submitted to the authors of the original scales for feedback; and 6) feedback was incorporated and a final Brazilian Portuguese version was completed.

These steps are illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1
This study’s translation process.

As mentioned above, we sent the screening tools to the original authors after back-translating them into English. The original authors did not suggest any changes to the PQ-16 (Table 1). The original authors did point out some inconsistencies in the PRIME-Screen (Table 2); therefore, we made corrections accordingly, as shown in Tables 1 and 2. Finally, as recommended during the peer-review process of the present study, we have included two suggestions to facilitate use of the instruments in our cultural and social contexts. First, we inverted item 5 to conform to Brazilian Portuguese colloquial language, making it a less complex statement that is easier for the public to understand. Figures 2 and 3 show the final versions of the instruments.

Table 1
Original version of the PQ-16 in English, first translation in Brazilian Portuguese, back-translation to English by a native speaker, revision by original authors, and final revised Brazilian Portuguese version

Table 2
- Original version of the PRIME-Screen in English, first translation in Brazilian Portuguese, back-translation to English by a native speaker, revision by original authors, and final revised Brazilian Portuguese version

Figure 2
Final version of PQ-16 in Brazilian Portuguese. Permission must be requested from the original authors before using the tool.

Figure 3
Final version of PRIME-Screen in Brazilian Portuguese. Permission must be requested from the original authors before using the tool.

Discussion

Previous studies have shown that the PQ and PRIME-Screen are among the best instruments for screening people who are at risk of developing psychosis.1616. Addington J, Stowkowy J, Weiser M. Screening tools for clinical high risk for psychosis. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2015;9:345-56. Early identification of ARMS facilitates early intervention and might potentially mitigate the psychosocial impact of this condition. Here, we present translations of the PQ-16 and PRIME-Screen into Brazilian Portuguese, which may constitute simple and time-effective tools to identify ARMS in low-resource settings.

Previous studies have proposed two short versions of the PQ; the PQ-B, with 21 items,2121. Loewy RL, Pearson R, Vinogradov S, Bearden CE, Cannon TD. Psychosis risk screening with the Prodromal Questionnaire--brief version (PQ-B). Schizophr Res. 2011;129:42-6. and the PQ-16.1414. Ising HK, Veling W, Loewy RL, Rietveld MW, Rietdijk J, Dragt S, et al. The validity of the 16-item version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) to screen for ultra high risk of developing psychosis in the general help-seeking population. Schizophr Bull. 2012;38:1288-96. Although both have been shown to be effective and reliable instruments, a recent study found that the PQ-16 outperformed the PQ-B.2222. Rietdijk J, Klaassen R, Ising H, Dragt S, Nieman DH, van de Kamp J, et al. Detection of people at risk of developing a first psychosis: comparison of two recruitment strategies. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2012;126:21-30. A cutoff of six or more symptoms in the PQ-16 exhibited a high true positive rate (87%) and high specificity (87%) when differentiating AMRS and FEP from help-seeking youth who were not at high clinical risk, according to the CAARMS.1414. Ising HK, Veling W, Loewy RL, Rietveld MW, Rietdijk J, Dragt S, et al. The validity of the 16-item version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) to screen for ultra high risk of developing psychosis in the general help-seeking population. Schizophr Bull. 2012;38:1288-96. A recent review,1919. Savill M, D’Ambrosio J, Cannon TD, Loewy RL. Psychosis risk screening in different populations using the Prodromal Questionnaire: a systematic review. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2018;12:3-14. based on four studies evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of the PQ-16, found that a total symptom score of ≥ 6 and a distress score of ≥ 9 were valid cut-offs for community-based samples. In help-seeking populations, lower scores were suggested for distress (cut-off of ≥ 8) and symptoms (cut-off of ≥ 5). For the PRIME-screen, as proposed by the original authors, any item endorsed with a score of 6 or three items endorsed with a score of 5 are considered positive for ARMS.1515. Miller TJ, Chicchetti D, Markovich PJ, McGlashan TH, Woods SW. The SIPS Screen: a brief self-report screen to detect the schizophrenia prodrome. Schizophr Res. 2004;70:78.

Finally, it is important to address some limitations of the present work. First, although previous studies have validated these instruments across several languages and cultures, we suggest that the psychometric properties of these Brazilian Portuguese versions should be investigated. Second, we also suggest that the norms and cut-offs provided in previous research should be adopted with caution, since they were not investigated in Brazilian samples. Third, the original studies typically investigated samples of young people aged 17-18 years old; therefore, utilization of these instruments in other age groups, particularly younger individuals, still needs further validation. Finally, the average educational level of Brazilian youth may differ from youth in high-income countries, which may possibly impact their ability to read and understand the items and, therefore, affect the instruments’ accuracy and applicability.

Conclusion

The Brazilian Portuguese versions of the PQ-16 and PRIME-Screen have been successfully translated and are now available for clinicians and researchers. Future studies should test their accuracy and set norms for the Brazilian population.

Acknowledgements

This paper is part of the research project titled Pesquisas e Inovações em Prevenção de Transtornos Mentais e Uso ou Abuso de Álcool e Outras Drogas, funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Health (TED # 176/2017). We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing. Rodrigo Affonseca Bressan has received research grants from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação Filantrópica Edmond J. Safra, Associação Brasileira de Assistência e Desenvolvimento Social (ABADS), the European Research Council, and the Medical Research Council (UK). Pedro Mario Pan has received grants from Instituto Israelita de Pesquisa e Ensino Albert Einstein and Instituto D’Or de Pesquisa e Ensino.

References

  • 1
    Perälä J, Suvisaari J, Saarni SI, Kuoppasalmi K, Isometsä E, Pirkola S, et al. Lifetime prevalence of psychotic and bipolar I disorders in a general population. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007;64:19-28.
  • 2
    Wittchen HU, Jacobi F, Rehm J, Gustavsson A, Svensson M, Jönsson B, et al. The size and burden of mental disorders and other disorders of the brain in Europe 2010. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2011;21:655-79.
  • 3
    Mathers C, Ma Fat D, Boerma T, World Health Organization (WHO). The global burden of disease: 2004 update. Genebra: WHO; 2004.
  • 4
    Jeppesen P, Petersen L, Thorup A, Abel MB, Øhlenschlaeger J, Christensen TØ, et al. The association between pre-morbid adjustment, duration of untreated psychosis and outcome in first-episode psychosis. Psychol Med. 2008;38:1157-66.
  • 5
    Yung AR, McGorry PD, McFarlane CA, Jackson HJ, Patton GC, Rakkar A. Monitoring and care of young people at incipient risk of psychosis. Schizophr Bull. 1996;22:283-303.
  • 6
    Yung AR, Yuen HP, McGorry PD, Phillips LJ, Kelly D, Dell’Olio M, et al. Mapping the onset of psychosis: the comprehensive assessment of at-risk mental states. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2005;39:964-71.
  • 7
    Miller TJ, McGlashan TH, Woods SW, Stein K, Driesen N, Corcoran CM, et al. Symptom assessment in schizophrenic prodromal states. Psychiatr Q. 1999;70:273-87.
  • 8
    McGorry PD. Early intervention in psychosis: obvious, effective, overdue. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2015;203:310-8.
  • 9
    Fusar-Poli P, Bonoldi I, Yung AR, Borgwardt S, Kempton MJ, Valmaggia L, et al. Predicting psychosis: meta-analysis of transition outcomes in individuals at high clinical risk. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012;69:220-9.
  • 10
    Kline E, Schiffman J. Psychosis risk screening: a systematic review. Schizophr Res. 2014;158:11-8.
  • 11
    Loewy RL, Bearden CE, Johnson JK, Raine A, Cannon TD. The prodromal questionnaire (PQ): preliminary validation of a self-report screening measure for prodromal and psychotic syndromes. Schizophr Res. 2005;79:117-25.
  • 12
    Kotzalidis GD, Solfanelli A, Piacentino D, Savoja V, Fiori Nastro P, Curto M, et al. The Italian version of the 92-item Prodromal Questionnaire: Concurrent validity with the SIPS and factor analysis in a sample of 258 outpatients aged 11-36years. Schizophr Res. 2017;189:50-6.
  • 13
    Gonçalves PD, Martins PA, Gordon P, Louzã M. Prodromal questionnaire: translation, adaptation to Portuguese and preliminary results in ultra-high risk individuals and first episode psychosis. J Bras Psiquiatr. 2012;61:96-101.
  • 14
    Ising HK, Veling W, Loewy RL, Rietveld MW, Rietdijk J, Dragt S, et al. The validity of the 16-item version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-16) to screen for ultra high risk of developing psychosis in the general help-seeking population. Schizophr Bull. 2012;38:1288-96.
  • 15
    Miller TJ, Chicchetti D, Markovich PJ, McGlashan TH, Woods SW. The SIPS Screen: a brief self-report screen to detect the schizophrenia prodrome. Schizophr Res. 2004;70:78.
  • 16
    Addington J, Stowkowy J, Weiser M. Screening tools for clinical high risk for psychosis. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2015;9:345-56.
  • 17
    Schiffman J. Considerations for the development and implementation of brief screening tools in the identification of early psychosis. Schizophr Res. 2018;199:41-3.
  • 18
    Guillemin F, Bombardier C, Beaton D. Cross-cultural adaptation of health-related quality of life measures: literature review and proposed guidelines. J Clin Epidemiol. 1993;46:1417-32.
  • 19
    Savill M, D’Ambrosio J, Cannon TD, Loewy RL. Psychosis risk screening in different populations using the Prodromal Questionnaire: a systematic review. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2018;12:3-14.
  • 20
    Miller TJ, McGlashan TH, Rosen JL, Cadenhead K, Cannon T, Ventura J, et al. Prodromal assessment with the structured interview for prodromal syndromes and the scale of prodromal symptoms: predictive validity, interrater reliability, and training to reliability. Schizophr Bull. 2003;29:703-15.
  • 21
    Loewy RL, Pearson R, Vinogradov S, Bearden CE, Cannon TD. Psychosis risk screening with the Prodromal Questionnaire--brief version (PQ-B). Schizophr Res. 2011;129:42-6.
  • 22
    Rietdijk J, Klaassen R, Ising H, Dragt S, Nieman DH, van de Kamp J, et al. Detection of people at risk of developing a first psychosis: comparison of two recruitment strategies. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2012;126:21-30.

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    14 Apr 2023
  • Date of issue
    2023

History

  • Received
    28 Mar 2021
  • Accepted
    28 July 2021
Associação de Psiquiatria do Rio Grande do Sul Av. Ipiranga, 5311/202, 90610-001 Porto Alegre RS/ Brasil, Tel./Fax: (55 51) 3024 4846 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brazil
E-mail: trends@aprs.org.br