Development of the Arab heritage Activity Card Sort.

Participation is an indicator of healthy functioning and well-being, as emphasized by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (World Health Organization, 2001). The Activity Card Sort (ACS) is a valid and reliable assessment tool that measures participation. This study describes the process of developing the Arab heritage version of the ACS (A-ACS). The original ACS was translated to Arabic using World Health Organization forward-backward translation guidelines, and activities that are common in Arab cultures were nominated using the ACS investigators' guidelines. Participant respondents were 156 Jordanians, from different age groups and socioeconomic classes. The process initially yielded 179 activities common to all international versions of the ACS, 19 of which were unique to the Arab culture. Eighty-eight items were validated for the A-ACS. The A-ACS validated in this study is the first assessment tool, for Arab adults whose heritage is in the Middle-East and North Africa, that measures participation. We expect the tool to have excellent clinical utility not only in Arab countries, but also for immigrants and citizens of Arab origins worldwide.