Translation and cultural adaptation to the portuguese language of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Standardized Shoulder assessment form (ASES) for evaluation of shoulder function.

Shoulder pain affects a significant percentage of the population. The American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Standardized Shoulder assessment form (ASES) is an outcome tool used to assess shoulder function, regardless of the disorder. However, at the moment the current study was undertaken, a Portuguese version of the ASES was not available. The objective of this work was to translate and make a cultural validation of the ASES to the Portuguese language. The original version of the ASES underwent the specific process of translation and cultural adaptation, comprising of the initial translation, back translation, committee, pre-test and the approval by the original author. The pre-test was applied in 20 patients with shoulder disorders (9 women, 41.1 ± 13.0 years of age, 11.2 ± 8.9 months with the disorder, and 12.5 ± 3.1 schooling years). The final Portuguese version of the ASES was established after patients considered all items of this tool comprehensible and clear, and the author of the original questionnaire considered it adequate. The results obtained with this study will help Brazilian rehabilitation professionals and researchers, since they have one more outcome measure to be applied in patients with functional disabilities of the shoulder.