RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Besides the classical clinical manifestations, body perception disturbances are common among patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). The Bath Body Perception Disturbance Scale (BBPDS) represents a useful tool to assess these changes in CRPS patients; however, to date no validated German version is available. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to translate the BBPDS into German, to perform a cross-cultural adaptation and linguistic validation in patients with acute (symptoms <3 months) and stable (symptoms ≥3 months) CRPS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The original English version of the BBPDS was translated into German according to published guidelines (translation and back translation) and tested on 56 patients (mean age 50.9⯱ 13.1 years) with acute (nâ¯= 28) or stable (nâ¯= 28) CRPS. RESULTS: The relative reliability, intraclass correlation and test-retest reliability were excellent overall and in the groups with acute and stable CRPS. The smallest detectable change was at 10 points. In the test-retest 48 points lay within the 95% confidence interval and visual inspection showed no tendency towards heteroscedasticity. Spearman's ρcoefficient values showed no correlation between the total score of the BBPDS-D with the numerical rating scale (NRS, ρâ¯= -0.19) and the EuroQol-5 D (ρâ¯= 0.16). There were no significant differences between patients with acute and stable CRPS (pâ¯= 0.412). There were also no floor or ceiling effects. CONCLUSION: This German translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the original English version of the BBPDS is a valid instrument to assess body perception disturbances in German speaking CRPS patients. Future research should further assess the impact of body perception disturbance on treatment outcome and prognosis.