Translation and transcultural adaptation of the Professional Mini-Evaluation Exercise (P-MEX) for use on medical residents

Abstract:

Introduction:

Medical Professionalism refers to several attributes, values, behaviors, responsibilities and commitments of physicians in relation to their patients and society. Professionalism translates today as a new competence composed of the medical skill set that should be demonstrated, taught and evaluated during the training of these professionals. The Professionalism Mini-Evaluation Exercise (P-MEX) is a medical professionalism evaluation tool created in Canada in 2006 and validated for use in Japan, Finland and Iran, having demonstrated its validity, reliability and reproducibility in these countries.

Objective:

The objective of this study is to develop a version of this instrument in Portuguese and adapt it transculturally to be used in Brazil.

Method:

The translation and transcultural adaptation was made according to the International Test Commission (ITC) - 2^nd edition 2017 guidelines. The following steps were taken: translation into Portuguese by two fluent English-speaking Brazilian physicians, review of the translation by a Review Committee, backtranslation by two English teachers from English speaking countries, review of the backtranslation by a Review Committee, approval of the backtranslation by the original author of the questionnaire and, finally, application of the agreeded final form of the instrument to the target population to evaluate its clarity, understandability and acceptability.

Results:

The final Portuguese form was considered suitable, constituting the final Portuguese version of the Professionalism Mini-Evaluation Exercise (P-MEX). The entire process was conducted in accordance with classically used international guidelines, including the final approval of the author of the original form, reasserting that the validity of the new adapted version of the form matches that of the original.

Conclusion:

In view of the lack of instruments to measure medical professionalism in Brazil, translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the P-MEX for use in the country was carried out, to be used to stimulate a more appropriate professional practice for patients and society.

Keywords:
Medical Education; Professionalism; Translating; Validation Studies