This is a quantitative methodological development study on the cross-cultural adaptation of the "Family NeedsQuestionnaire" (FNQ) For many years, literature on TBI has focused on the victims of trauma, although it has recently attempted to report the TBI impact on the family system as well (2) . The impact TBI causes in the family leads to countless consequences and the following are highlighted: stress and sorrow (3) , change in family roles (4) , guilt and anger (5) , difficulties in the sexual and marital relationship (6) , depression (7) , anxiety (8) , psychosomatic disorders (9) and reduced quality of life (10) .Families experience several needs in the initial period of crisis following TBI, however, as TBI has long-term effects, it is also important to evaluate these needs after the initial period of crisis (10) .In view of the urgent need to evaluate these needs in clinical practice, after a comprehensive search in the literature for instruments to measure families' needs, we decided to make a cross-cultural adaptation of the Family Needs Questionnaire (FNQ), which is a reliable and valid instrument used for the U.S. culture that identifies the needs of families of people with TBI and takes into account their specificities.The FNQ was developed in Virginia, U.S.
CASUISTIC AND METHODThis is a quantitative study with methodological development. It was developed in two phases: the first included experts in the English language and nurse experts in psychometrics, neurotrauma and family. In the second phase, initially, a group of 20 family members of TBI victims was interviewed, followed by another 161 family members.The 20 family members analyzed the understanding and clarity of the instrument items and the second group answered the FNQ. The 161 participants were relatives of 71 patients with TBI who received care either in a referral hospital for trauma or in a medical specialty center that is a referral institution for neurosurgery outpatients, both located in Aracaju, SE, Brazil.Rev Latino-am Enfermagem 2009 julho-agosto; 17(4):541-7 www.eerp.usp.br/rlae Cross-cultural adaptation of the instrument… Hora EC, Sousa RMC.
543The inclusion criteria for family members were: being 18 years or older, minimum education of five complete years, and according to the FNQ manual: participate in care for patients who had suffered TBI at least six months before and who were older than 12 years at the time of the interview, which is the period of stabilization in the recovery process for this kind of lesion (1) .The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee and family members were included in the study only after their consent. The authorization for the FNQ cross-cultural adaptation was obtained from the National Resource Center for Traumatic Brain Injury, an organization at the Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, U.S., which has the copyright of the instrument.Procedures: the cross-cultural adaptation w a s a p r o c e s s t h a t c o m p r i s e d f i v e s t a g e s :evaluation of semantic, idio...