The Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) is a self-administered questionnaire that measures functional capacity in an economical and simple way; allows follow-up and is useful in clinical practice.

To make validation for Colombia of the questionnaire Duke status index in patients with heart failure.

The translation and cultural adaptation of the Duke Activity Index (DASI) into Spanish was done. A total of 135 patients were included, with which the content validation was done with a confirmatory factor analysis. The validity of the convergent and divergent construct and the criterion validity were assessed by comparing groups of the New York Heart Association (NYHA) and correlations with the quality of life questionnaire “Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire”, the generic scale of quality of life SF-36, and a disability assessment questionnaire from the World Health Organization (WHO-DAS II). Internal consistency and interobserver and intraobserver reliability were evaluated. Sensitivity to change was assessed at 1.3 and 6 months.

In the content validity the scale was adjusted to two domains, in the convergent and divergent validity it was verified with significant correlations of the DASI with the scales, which it was compared. The criterion validity of the DASI with the NYHA classification showed adequate relation, although it is not statistically significant. In internal consistency the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.69, the intraclass correlation coefficients for inter-evaluator and intra-evaluator reliability were 0.81 and 0.90, respectively.

This Spanish version of the Duke Activity Index (DASI) is valid and reliable for patients with heart failure in Colombia. There is a good correlation between DASI and WHODAS II.