CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AND LINGUISTIC VALIDATION
OF A QUIESTIONNAIRE ASSESSING THE ACTIVITY OF THE DOMINANT AND NON-DOMINANT ARM

Challenge

We were invited to cooperate in the validation of a questionnaire by one of the largest research centres at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. We received a questionnaire that was being simultaneously prepared in English and Swedish. Our role was to prepare the Polish version of the questionnaire based on the text in English. We decided that the best solution would be to use a multi-step process of cross-cultural adaptation – Linguistic Validation.

Solution

Conclusions

PILOT TESTS

the developed questionnaire successfully passed the pilot tests

STUDY SUCCESS

the validation increased the effectiveness and success of the study by 90%

TIME SAVINGS

financial benefits and saving the client’s time thanks to a precisely prepared research tool

When and why

ONE RESEARCH PROBLEM FOR DIFFERENT TARGET GROUPS

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation should be used when we want to reach different target groups with the same research problem. This may be the case when examining a group of recipients using different languages as well as using one language.

RESEARCH FOR EVERYONE, REGARDLESS OF THEIR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

Adaptation is particularly useful when different recipients of the text have different levels of general knowledge in the area covered by the study. Therefore, the content must be understandable for each patient, regardless of the fact whether they are already acquainted with a given topic or not.

PRECISE CONCLUSIONS THANKS TO ACCURATE DATA

Cultural adaptation and validation of materials dedicated for patients is essential already at the early stages of a study. It guarantees collection of precise data from patients and thus allows proper formulation of conclusions. Thanks to this, it allows to reduce the risk of study rejection at the final stages of the implementation of a treatment or drug.

A solution tailored to the medical market

The pace of development of the medical industry largely depends on the number of studies conducted, in which the patient's voice is very important already at the early stages. It is a common practice to use the same methods and research tools on groups of patients in different countries. In order to do this, it is necessary to translate the content from the source language to the target language while maintaining the context and substantive correctness. Moreover, documents intended for patients must be linguistically and stylistically adjusted.

In such cases, translation of the content itself is usually not enough. It is necessary to adapt the text to the specific conditions of the recipients, their cultural customs or social structure in such a manner that it is precisely understood and leaves no room for any misinterpretation or doubts among patients.

Performing linguistic validation of documents is an extremely important process in order to obtain an appropriate and useful set of data from patients. In particular, researchers have noted the growing importance of asking patients the targeted questions assessing the impact of the condition on their ability to perform everyday life activities. In the past, pain was assessed on a numerical scale, but more relevant data can be obtained by asking patients which daily activities the pain prevents them from doing. These activities vary depending on the cultural habits of the target group. That is why cultural adaptation of the questions addressed to patients is so important, taking into account their place of residence, age and level of education.

The validation process involves a group of specialist translators and independent experts in a given field. Such a cooperation results in well-formulated questions and thus precise answers received from patients. A properly conducted process of preparation of documents for patients results in the collection of precise, valuable data for the investigators conducting the study.
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