Cross-cultural validation of the Drug Regimen Unassisted Grading Scale (DRUGS) to assess community-dwelling elderly's ability to manage medication

Purpose of the researchEvaluation of the elderly's ability to manage their own medication can be a significant step in identifying inabilities and potential needs. The aim of this study was to perform the linguistic and cultural adaptation of DRUGS to Portugal and determine its psychometric properties.Material and methodsThe adaptation was started with the translation/back translation cycle completed by four independent bilingual experts (two Portuguese/two English). The cultural component was accomplished through an external experts meeting and a longitudinal screening of concepts and construct. The pilot study was carried out in a sample of 50 Portuguese community-dwelling elders. Descriptive data, correlations, internal reliability, response consistency and exploratory factor analysis was conducted using SPSS Statistics, IBM (v.22).Principal resultsOf the 50 participants, 41 (82%) were women, and the mean age was 78.74, ± 7.03 years. The sample took a mean of 6.74, ± 2.76 medicines per day. The DRUGS-PT (Portuguese version of DRUGS) mean score was 80.63, ± 26.36 (range of 2.78 to 100; median of 91.67) in tests and 78.44, ± 25.59 (range of 0 to 100; median of 87.5) in retests. Cronbach's = 0.81. KMO = 0.7 and a Bartlett's test (2 = 117.81 [dF = 6]; P < 0.001). The response consistency between test and retest was verified.Major conclusionsWe have obtained the European Portuguese version of the DRUGS instrument with acceptable psychometric properties, which can now be used in the elderly in clinical and research contexts.