Linguistic validation of the N-QOL (ICIQ), OAB-q (ICIQ), PPBC, OAB-S and ICIQ-MLUTSsex questionnaires in 16 languages.

OBJECTIVE: Overactive bladder (OAB) is a highly prevalent condition with a negative impact on both health-related quality of life and sexual functioning. We aimed to create and validate conceptually equivalent tools to assess OAB for use in diverse cultural and linguistic settings. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: To evaluate the linguistic validity of harmonised translations of the Nocturia Quality of Life (N-QOL) questionnaire, Overactive Bladder Questionnaire (OAB-q) family, Patient Perception of Bladder Condition (PPBC) questionnaire, Overactive Bladder Satisfaction Questionnaire (OAB-S) and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire (ICIQ) Male Sexual Matters associated with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Questionnaire (ICIQ-MLUTSsex), bilingual (target language and English) interviewers cognitively debriefed subjects to assess their ability to paraphrase and understand the instructions, questions and responses within each questionnaire.
RESULTS: Overall item comprehension rates were 96% for the N-QOL, 98.9% for the OAB-q, 92% for the PPBC, 98.5% for the OAB-S and 94.3% for the ICIQ-MLUTSsex. DISCUSSION: We found that the translations were well-understood by subjects, although a number of minor changes were made to the N-QOL, OAB-q, OAB-S and ICIQ-MLUTSsex translations in an effort to improve clarity and cultural appropriateness. In a few instances, the majority of subjects in a language were unable to paraphrase a specific term or phrase prior to the revisions. In several cases, problems arose from the wording of the question in the source language.
CONCLUSIONS: The translated instruments in this study demonstrated a high level of overall linguistic validity.