Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Arizona Sexual Scale (ASEX) into Portuguese

Abstract Introduction Sexual dysfunction is common in individuals with psychiatric disorders and under psychotropic medication such as antidepressants and antipsychotics. Several scales have been developed to assess sexual function in these patients. The Arizona Sexual Scale (ASEX) is a five-item rating scale that quantifies sex drive, arousal, vaginal lubrication/penile erection, ability to reach orgasm, and satisfaction from orgasm. We describe the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the ASEX into the Portuguese language, with the goal of contributing to the assessment of sexual function in Portuguese-speaking psychiatric patients under treatment with psychotropic drugs. Methods The translation and cross-cultural adaptation process thoroughly followed the steps recommended by the Task Force of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), namely: preparation, forward translation, reconciliation, back-translation, back-translation review, harmonization, cognitive debriefing, review of cognitive debriefing, finalization, proofreading, and final version. Results The process was successfully completed and no major differences were found between the translation, reconciliation and back-translation phases, with only small adjustments being made. Conclusion The translation of the ASEX was completed successfully, following international reference guidelines. The use of these guidelines is a guarantee of a Portuguese version that is qualitatively and semantically equivalent to the original scale. This availability of this new scale version will enable studies evaluating the sexual function of Portuguese-speaking psychiatric patients. Future studies may assess the validity of the scale for Portuguese-speaking populations.摘要：性功能障碍在精神疾病患者以及接受抗抑郁药、抗精神病药等精神药物治疗的人群中十分常见。目前已有多款量表用于评估此类患者的性功能。亚利桑那性量表（Arizona Sexual Scale, ASEX）是一款包含5个条目的评定量表，可量化评估性欲、性唤起、阴道润滑/阴茎勃起、达到性高潮的能力以及性高潮满意度。本研究旨在完成亚利桑那性量表的葡萄牙语翻译与跨文化调适，以期为葡萄牙语精神疾病患者的性功能评估提供工具支持。方法：本翻译与跨文化调适流程严格遵循国际药物经济学与结果研究学会（International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, ISPOR）工作组推荐的步骤，具体包括：准备阶段、正向翻译、协调整合、回译、回译审核、统一校准、认知访谈、认知访谈结果审核、终稿定稿、校对及最终版本确定。结果：本流程已顺利完成，翻译、协调整合与回译各阶段之间未发现显著差异，仅需进行少量微调。结论：本研究遵循国际参考指南顺利完成了亚利桑那性量表的葡萄牙语翻译。该指南的应用确保了葡萄牙语版本与原版量表在质性与语义上保持一致。本新版量表的推出将为葡萄牙语精神疾病患者的性功能评估研究提供支持，未来可进一步针对葡萄牙语人群开展量表效度验证研究。