An empirical evaluation of the translation to Brazilian Portuguese of the Loss of Control over Eating Scale (LOCES)

• Published in: Revista de psiquiatria clínica Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 1 - 5
• Main Authors: da Luz, Felipe Q, Sainsbury, Amanda, Estella, Nara M, Cogo, Hugo, Touyz, Stephen W, Palavras, Marly A, Latner, Janet D, Claudino, Angelica, Hay, Phillipa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de Sao Paulo, Facultade de Medicina 01.01.2016; Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo
• Subjects: MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL; PSYCHIATRY; Brasil; symptom assessment; bulimia; Eating disorders; binge eating
• ISSN: 1806-938X; 0101-6083; 1806-938X
• DOI: 10.1590/0101-60830000000071

Background: Loss of control over eating is a key feature of the most prevalent eating disorders. The Loss of Control over Eating Scale (LOCES) enables a thorough assessment of loss of control over eating. Objective: This study empirically evaluated the translation of the LOCES from English to Brazilian Portuguese. Methods: The scale was translated to Brazilian Portuguese and back translated to English in order to check accuracy of the translation. Two hundred and ninety-three medicine and nursing students, 60 males and 233 females, 18-55 years old, with mean body mass index (BMI) 23.2 kg/[m.sup.2] (SD 4.1), recruited between August and December 2014, answered the Brazilian Portuguese LOCES. An exploratory factor analysis was performed. Results: Exploratory factor analysis of the Brazilian Portuguese LOCES showed three distinct factors of the loss of control over eating (disgust/negative sensations, cognitive experiences/ dissociation, and "positive" effects) as well as moderate consistency with previous reports of exploratory factor analysis of the English version. Discussion: This study showed satisfactory translation of the LOCES from English to Brazilian Portuguese, which is now ready for further validation. Keywords: Eating disorders, symptom assessment, bulimia, binge eating.