The purpose of this study was to perform a cross-cultural adaptation of the Disability of Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire to Spanish for Puerto Rico. Five steps were followed for the cross-cultural adaptation: forward translations into Spanish for Puerto Rico, synthesis of the translations, back translations into English, revision by an expert committee, and field test of the prefinal version. Psychometric characteristics of reliability and construct validity were evaluated for the final version. Internal consistency of the final version was high (Cronbach's α = 0.97) and item-to-total correlations were moderate (range from 0.44 to 0.85). Construct validity was evaluated by correlating the DASH with the scales of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Breast. Fair to moderate correlations found in this study between the DASH and most scales of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Breast support the construct validity of the Puerto Rico-Spanish DASH. The final version of the questionnaire was revised and approved by the Institute for Work and Health of Canada. Revisions to the original DASH English version are recommended. This version of the DASH is valid and reliable, and it can be used to evaluate outcomes in both clinical and research settings.

Background:Because of the problem of elbow and shoulder injuries in baseball pitchers between 9 and 14 years of age, the USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory Committee and the Department of Recreation and Sports in Puerto Rico developed injury prevention guidelines for pitchers. The purpose of this study was to determine the compliance of pitching coaches of 9- to 14-year-old Little League teams in Puerto Rico with the Administrative Order 2006-01 and the USA Baseball guidelines.Hypotheses:(1) The coaches will have a satisfactory level of compliance with the Administrative Order as well as with the USA Baseball guidelines and (2) both the level of education of the coach as well as the years of experience will correlate with the level of compliance.Study Design:Descriptive cross-sectional study.Level of Evidence:Level 5.Methods:A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on the Administrative Order and on the USA Baseball guidelines. A descriptive univariate analysis was conducted to determine the mean coach compliance with both guidelines. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to describe the correlation between the level of education and the years of experience of the coaches with the level of compliance.Results:Thirty-five coaches (response rate, 78%) participated in the study. On average, the coaches complied with 70% of the Administrative Order and with 73% of the USA Baseball guidelines. No significant correlations were found.Conclusion:The coaches who participated in the study did not reflect a satisfactory level of compliance with the USA Baseball guidelines or with the Administrative Order.Clinical Relevance:These findings emphasize the need for reinforcing compliance with the injury prevention guidelines and the need to provide resources and training to coaches to effectively prevent elbow and shoulder injuries in pitchers.

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) serves to understand determinants that predict the intention to exercise. According to this theory, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceptions of behavioral control determine intention. This is the first theory-based tool designed to measure the determinants of exercise among women in Puerto Rico who are breast cancer survivors. Understanding the determinants will assist in planning theory based interventions. The purpose of this study was to develop a TPB-based questionnaire to assess the determinants of exercise of breast cancer survivors in Puerto Rico and to evaluate its psychometric properties. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used for questionnaire development and psychometric testing. Three independent samples were recruited for the phases of item generation, pilot testing, and evaluation of psychometric properties. An initial 97-item questionnaire was constructed. Test–retest reliability was assessed for the indirect subscales; six items were found unreliable and removed. For the direct subscales, seven items with item-to-total correlations <0.30 were removed. The final version consisted of 84 items, with Cronbach’s α ranging from 0.65 to 0.89. Construct validity was demonstrated by significant, fair-to-moderate correlations of all but one of the direct subscales and the multiplied scores of the indirect subscales of similar constructs.

Authorship credit is one of the areas addressed by research integrity. Policies established by graduate academic programs and academic institutions in Puerto Rico are analyzed by describing authorship principles included. Twenty-six percent of the policies specify that students are authors of their research work. Four percent of the policies mention activities that do not qualify a person for author, and only 7% include a statement regarding the process to address authorship disagreement. Implications for institutional policy are discussed. ResumenEl crédito de autor es una de las áreas abordadas por la integridad en la investigación. Se analizaron las políticas establecidas por programas académicos de post-grado e instituciones académicas en Puerto Rico describiendo los principios de autoría incluidos en éstas. Veintiséis por ciento de las políticas especificaban que los estudiantes eran autores de su trabajo de investigación. Cuatro por ciento de las políticas mencionaban actividades que no cualifican a una persona como autor; mientras que solo el siete por ciento incluía una declaración acerca del proceso a seguir cuando hay desacuerdos de autoría. Se discuten implicaciones para políticas institucionales.