CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF A BRIEF OUTCOME QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SPANISH-SPEAKING ARTHRITIS PATIENTS

Objective. To cross-culturally adapt a brief self-assessment questionn aire to measure outcome among English- or Spanish-speaking patients wi th arthritis. Methods. A questionnaire containing the following items was translated to Spanish: the 8 activities of daily living (ADL) ques tions of the Modified Health Assessment Questionnaire; a question abou t the duration of morning stiffness; and a 10-point pain scale, Equiva lence to the original English, test-retest reliability, and construct, criterion, and discriminant validity were determined on a population of patients from 4 clinical centers. Results. English-Spanish equivale nce and test-retest reliability of the questionnaire were almost perfe ct (intra-class correlation coefficients [r(i)] greater than or equal to 0.90 for each), Construct validity, measured by comparing questionn aire scores with an occupational therapist's evaluation, was also near -perfect in both languages (r(i) = 0.93 for English and 0.89 for Spani sh), Both versions of the questionnaire correlated well with the physi cian-determined Steinbrocker functional class, as well as with the amo unt of pain, grip strength, and walking velocity, Patients with system ic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and fibr omyalgia differed significantly in their pain:ADL ratios, in both lang uages. Conclusion. The items of the Spanish questionnaire that we have adapted are equivalent to the original English versions, This questio nnaire is suitable for studying Spanish-speaking subjects with arthrit is in the US and elsewhere.