Introduction

Uncertainty directly influences physicians’ decision-making, and their inability to deal with it can result in substandard medical care and wasted health care resources. Uncertainty also affects the job satisfaction and quality of life of such professionals. The Physicians’ Reactions to Uncertainty (PRU) questionnaire aims to quantify the emotive reactions of physicians to uncertainty and their ways of dealing with it. The objectives of this study are the Portuguese translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the PRU questionnaire.

Materials and Methods

Cross-sectional analytic study involving translation, back-translation and cultural adaptation of the PRU questionnaire. The subsequent steps consisted of validation in the target population, followed by assessment of intra- and inter-observer reproducibility and internal consistency analysis. Cronbach’s alpha was used to evaluate the internal consistency of the questionnaire, and Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient was applied for the test-retest.

Results

In all areas of the questionnaire the results of the intra-observer (test-retest) and inter-observer (total agreement) correlation through Pearson’s correlation test were statistically significant, with p < 0.01. Overall, the internal consistency of the questionnaire was moderate, with a Cronbach’s alpha score of 0.58. Among the various dimensions, a moderate consistency was achieved, with values oscillating around 0.06.

Conclusions

The Brazilian version of the PRU questionnaire has demonstrated adequate measurement properties and offers a new instrument in this field of research, enabling better understanding of the uncertainty generated in clinical decision-making.