Uterine fibroid symptoms and quality-of-Life questionnaire (UFS-QOL): translation and validation study of the Sinhala version

Abstract

The objective of this study was to translate and test the reliability and validity of the Sinhala (Sri Lankan native language) version of the UFS-QOL. This study was carried out by following two main steps. First step included the translation process and the second step focused on the validation of the translation process of UFS-QOL which was conducted at clinical setup. In the step I of the study, several minor linguistic differences were identified between two forward translations. Some of the items showed considerable variation, especially in question no 1, 9, 23 and 28. The pre- final version of the Sinhala translated questionnaire was tested on 30 patients with symptomatic uterine fibroids in Step II. All items had a 100% response rate and no participant experienced difficulty completing the questionnaire. Out of 30 participants 4 subjects (13%) were unclear with item 33 on the exact meaning of the question. After discussing with the expert committee on all the issues rose at clinical setup the questionnaire was modified and finalized. Statistical analysis shows Cronbach Alpha value is greater than 0.7, reflect adequate internal consistency. Hence, data and question/translations are reliable. Understanding the UFS-QOL context to the people is acceptable and translation work is at satisfactory level. This study shows that the Sinhala translated version of UFS-QOL was linguistically reliable and valid QOL measure for use in Sinhala speaking community in Sri Lanka. Levels of compliance were good indicating that the instrument was well accepted by patients. It could be used in clinical and epidemiological researches on uterine fibroids as an acceptable tool.

Keywords

• ufs-qol, linguistic validation, sinhala version