Cross-cultural adaptation and reliability of the Filipino version of the Attitude to Disability Scale

Abstract

Background:  Negative attitudes towards disability must be addressed to promote better quality of life for Filipino persons with disability, but measures to identify these attitudes are not available in the local context. The World Health Organization (WHO) Quality of Life Disability Group's Attitude to Disability Scale (ADS) was identified to be a promising tool for this due to the participatory and cross-cultural approach used for its development and its good psychometric properties.

Objectives:  This study aimed to culturally adapt the ADS – Physical Disability forms to Filipino. The study also aimed to determine the test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the translated forms.

Methodology:  The translation process followed recommendations from literature and WHO. The translated forms were pre-tested on 12 Filipino participants with similar profiles to target users to refine the translated forms. Data collection on 362 participants in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces was conducted to evaluate internal consistency of the forms using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Ninety-seven participants underwent retesting to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the translated forms using Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC).

Results:  The translation process ensured semantic and conceptual equivalence with the original form and experiential appropriateness for Filipino use. Both translated forms demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.67 to 0.82). ICC estimates suggest poor to moderate test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.220 to 0.705).

Conclusion:  The ADS - Physical Disability forms were culturally adapted to Filipino and were found to reliably measure attitudes towards disability of Filipinos, save for some improvements for test-retest reliability. Further studies are also recommended to ascertain the forms' validity.

Published online: July 5, 2022