CARE scale of empaty: translation to the Portuguese spoken in Brazil and initial validation results

Abstract

Objectives: To translate and to adapt the scale Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) for using in Brazil. To obtain preliminary results about concurrent validation of this scale. Methods: The scale was translated and adapted from English by appropriated recommended methodology. Twenty patients from the pulmonology clinic of a public hospital, associated with the Brazilian public health system, were interviewed about the degree of understanding of the scale final version. The second step of the study enrolled twelve patients from the same clinic who answered the Brazilian version of CARE and the Perception Scale of Empathy By Patients (EPEP), shortly after the end of a routine consultation The physicians responsible for the care of these patients were also approached and asked to answer a questionnaire containing the Brazilian version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Inventory of Empathy (IE). Results: Nineteen of 20 patients reported a high degree of understanding about the items of the Brazilian version of CARE. The median CARE score for other 12 volunteers was 44.5 (20-63). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the answers of these patients was 0.867. CARE scores significantly correlated with EPEP scores (r = 0.699, p = 0.01) and with subsection altruism of the IE (r = 0.744, p = 0.01). CARE scale showed no significant correlations with global scores of IE and IRI reported by physicians. Conclusion: The Brazilian version of CARE is easy to understand and displays acceptable evidences of concurrent validity and internal consistency. Measures of empathy reported by doctors tend to not correlate with perceptions of patients.