Preliminary test of Polish translation of the Rheumatoid and Arthritis Outcome Score – observational study

Abstract

Introduction Today, patients with inflammatory joint diseases participate in more physical activities, including sports and recreation. The tools currently used to assess quality of life and functioning in rheumatic diseases, available in Polish, do not address these problems. The Rheumatoid and Arthritis Outcome Score (RAOS) ques- tionnaire was developed but is not available in the Polish language. This tool is used to evaluate the functional limitations of physically active people who suffer from arthritis and associated lower limb disorders. The objective of this study is the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the RAOS into Polish. Material and methods The process was carried out following the guidelines of the Evidence-Based Medicine Committee of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). The translation included forward and back translation, and synthesis of the transcripts. The RAOS was pre-tested in a target setting in 19 patients and final amendments were made to address concerns raised by the patients. Results The translation, adaptation, and pre-test of the Polish RAOS resulted in the final version of the scale, which can be found in Supplementary material 1. Conclusions During pre-testing, the scale demonstrated ease of understanding, with patient feedback leading to minor corrections that were incorporated into the questionnaire structure. Before widespread implementation, a crucial step involves validating the scale through rigorous psychometric tests, including assessments of the reliability, validity and stability of the Polish RAOS. The lack of validation of the translated Polish version limits the use of the RAOS in the research environment. To solve this problem, the validation process is planned to be carried out in the next stage.

Keywords

• rheumatology
• arthritis
• rheumatoid
• patient-reported outcome measure