Glasgow Coma Scale in Brazilian Portuguese: foundation translation and cultural adaptation study.
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
- 2University of Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, United Kingdom.
- 3Orthopedics Department, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
- 4Department of Medicine, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Abstract
Objective
To establish the foundation for the translation and culturally adaptation of the Glasgow Coma Scale into Brazilian Portuguese as part of a larger project translating and validating another tool, the SCAT-5, of which the Glasgow Coma Scale is a component. The Glasgow Coma Scale assesses the level of consciousness and neurological prognosis after traumatic brain injury. However, a systematic translation and cultural adaptation into Portuguese has never been performed.Methods
Three Brazilian individuals independently translated the original Glasgow Coma Scale from English to Portuguese. The Glasgow Coma Scale is divided into three separate modules: eye opening (scored between 1 and 4), verbal response (scored between 1 and 5), and best motor response (scored between 1 and 6). The total score is calculated by adding up the scores for each individual module, so it ranges between 3 and 15. Each sentence or expression within the original Glasgow Coma Scale questionnaire was evaluated individually. A multi-professional committee voted and discussed the best translation for each sentence or expression and combined them into a single version, which was back-translated into English by two separate native English professionals and compared with the original to resolve semantic discrepancies. The resulting combined and optimized version was tested twice in a fortnight and applied to 36 athletes who had suffered brain trauma, with cerebral concussion, and were treated in a sports-specialized ambulatory. This test was conducted to evaluate mainly the comprehension of the physician applying the translated questionnaire.Results
Patients were aged between 18 and 45 years, mostly rugby players (23/36), and female (23/36). There was no variability in the results between patients or between the same patient in both evaluations; all patients were consistently evaluated as having a Glasgow score of 15, since all patients were outpatients.Conclusion
This study laid the foundations for the translation and cultural adaptation of the Glasgow Coma Scale for Brazilian physicians. This translation may contribute to facilitating its use and standardizing the healthcare of patients with traumatic brain injury in Brazil. Further studies may be necessary to evaluate the use of the translated version in patients with lower levels of consciousness (i.e., lower Glasgow Coma Scale scores).
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BibTeX
@article{gandolfi2026glasgow,
title = {{Glasgow Coma Scale in Brazilian Portuguese: foundation translation and cultural adaptation study.}},
author = {Ana Camila de Castro Gandolfi and Patrícia Logullo and Moisés Cohen and Rachel Riera},
journal = {Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31744/einstein_journal/2026ao2125},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42848638},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Glasgow Coma Scale in Brazilian Portuguese: foundation translation and cultural adaptation study.
AU - Ana Camila de Castro Gandolfi
AU - Patrícia Logullo
AU - Moisés Cohen
AU - Rachel Riera
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
DO - 10.31744/einstein_journal/2026ao2125
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42848638
AB - Objective To establish the foundation for the translation and culturally adaptation of the Glasgow Coma Scale into Brazilian Portuguese as part of a larger project translating and validating another tool, the SCAT-5, of which the Glasgow Coma Scale is a component. The Glasgow Coma Scale assesses the level of consciousness and neurological prognosis after traumatic brain injury. However, a systematic translation and cultural adaptation into Portuguese has never been performed.Methods Three Brazilian individuals independently translated the original Glasgow Coma Scale from English to Portuguese. The Glasgow Coma Scale is divided into three separate modules: eye opening (scored between 1 and 4), verbal response (scored between 1 and 5), and best motor response (scored between 1 and 6). The total score is calculated by adding up the scores for each individual module, so it ranges between 3 and 15. Each sentence or expression within the original Glasgow Coma Scale questionnaire was evaluated individually. A multi-professional committee voted and discussed the best translation for each sentence or expression and combined them into a single version, which was back-translated into English by two separate native English professionals and compared with the original to resolve semantic discrepancies. The resulting combined and optimized version was tested twice in a fortnight and applied to 36 athletes who had suffered brain trauma, with cerebral concussion, and were treated in a sports-specialized ambulatory. This test was conducted to evaluate mainly the comprehension of the physician applying the translated questionnaire.Results Patients were aged between 18 and 45 years, mostly rugby players (23/36), and female (23/36). There was no variability in the results between patients or between the same patient in both evaluations; all patients were consistently evaluated as having a Glasgow score of 15, since all patients were outpatients.Conclusion This study laid the foundations for the translation and cultural adaptation of the Glasgow Coma Scale for Brazilian physicians. This translation may contribute to facilitating its use and standardizing the healthcare of patients with traumatic brain injury in Brazil. Further studies may be necessary to evaluate the use of the translated version in patients with lower levels of consciousness (i.e., lower Glasgow Coma Scale scores).
SN - 1679-4508
SN - 2317-6385
ER -