Translation and adaptation of english language questionnaire into arabic for implementation of a large survey on assessing the symptoms of bleeding disorders in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Bleeding disorders are infrequent health problem in most of the societies and gain less focus by medical professionals. There are some data suggesting a higher prevalence of mild bleeding symptoms and coagulation factors deficiency in societies with high consanguinity. Furthermore, few validated tools for detecting bleeding disorders through large sample sized surveys are available in Arabic language. Hereby, we are presenting our experience of translating and validating one of these tools for implementation into an Arabic speaking population. An expert committee was formulated with a primary objective of smoothly translating the questionnaire into Arabic while maintaining the reliability and validity of the instrument. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to test for the significance of correlation found in test-retest reliability. In test-retest reliability assessment, we did not find the individuals' responses changing over time. Content validity was confirmed through a panel of practicing hematologists. Establishment of an expert committee to oversee the process of translation and adaptation of a foreign language questionnaire into Arabic has proven its usefulness.

Keywords

• Arabic
• bleeding symptoms
• questionnaire
• translation and adaptation
• von Willebrand disease