Reducing Barriers for Best Practice in People Living with Dementia: Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Content Validity of the Brazilian Version of the Pain Assessment in Impaired Cognition (PAIC-15) Meta-Tool

Background: Pain detection and management in older people with impaired cognition is an unmet need, leading to healthcare inequalities. This study aimed to enhance pain detection by translating and culturally adapting the PAIC-15 questionnaire into Brazilian Portuguese, establishing its content validity and comparing findings with a similar Dutch study. Methods: Following the same international standards used in the English-to-Dutch validation, we translated and culturally adapted PAIC-15 for Brazil. Content validity was assessed using two questions: (A) whether the item indicated pain and (B) whether it was specific to pain. An online form was distributed to ‘target users’ (nurses and geriatricians in LTCFs or other settings) and other healthcare professionals (HCPs) experienced in pain assessment in people with cognitive decline. Results were compared with the English-to-Dutch validation. Results: A total of 103 HCPs responded (mean age 45.2 ± 11.4 years)—76 (74%) were female and 54 (52%) had previously used pain assessment tools. Among the 63 target users, 13 items (87%) were validated as indicative and/or specific to pain. Comparing Brazilian and Dutch users, 10 items (67%) showed agreement on pain specificity. Conclusions: The Brazilian Portuguese PAIC-15 is now available, showing acceptable content validity. Linguistic challenges highlight the need for training and further validation in larger samples.