To translate the Japanese Kihon Checklist (frailty index) into the Portuguese language, and to validate the use of the checklist for the assessment of the elderly Brazilian population.

A semantic analysis was carried out, along with pretesting of bilingual participants. The checklist was validated against the Edmonton Frail Scale.

A total of 188 Brazilian older adults (mean age 69.5 ± 7.47 years) participated in the present study. In the semantic analysis, six elderly participants reported no difficulty with responding to the Portuguese version of the Kihon Checklist. During pretesting with 21 bilingual participants, we found a strong correlation between the total scores of the original version of the Kihon Checklist in Japanese and the translated version in Portuguese (r = 0.764, P < 0.001). According to the validation process, which involved 161 participants, there was a significant correlation between the total scores of the Kihon Checklist and the Edmonton Frail Scale (r = 0.535, P < 0.001), and between each domain of the checklist with the total score of Edmonton Frail Scale (lifestyle τ = 0.429, P < 0.001; physical strength τ = 0.367, P < 0.001; nutrition τ = 0.211, P = 0.002; eating τ = 0.213, P = 0.001; socialization τ = 0.269, P < 0.001; memory τ = 0.285, P < 0.001; and mood τ = 0.359, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the Portuguese version of the Kihon Checklist showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α coefficient: 0.787).

The Portuguese language version of the Kihon Checklist presented good internal consistency and validity. Therefore, we encourage its application in the elderly Brazilian population with an aim of monitoring their frailty to prevent or delay the functional dependence and any other adverse health outcomes. [Correction added on 14 January 2013, after first online publication: the phrase ‘loss of’ has been deleted from the preceding statement.] Geriatr Gerontol Int 2014; 14: 561–569.