Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-27gpq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T12:30:46.444Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Evaluating Translations of Health Status Questionnaires: Methods From the IQOLA Project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

John E. Ware Jr.
Affiliation:
New England Medical Center
Susan D. Keller
Affiliation:
New England Medical Center
Barbara Gandek
Affiliation:
New England Medical Center
John E. Brazier
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Marianne Sullivan
Affiliation:
University of Göteborg

Abstract

There is growing demand for translations of health status questionnaires for use in multinational drug therapy studies and for population comparisons of health statistics. The International Quality of Life Assessment (IQOLA) Project is conducting a three-stage research program to determine the feasibility of translating the SF-36 Health Survey, widely used in English-speaking countries, into other languages. In stage 1, the conceptual equivalence and acceptability of translated questionnaires are evaluated and improved using qualitative and quantitative methods. In stage 2, assumptions underlying the construction and scoring of questionnaire scales are tested empirically. In stage 3, the equivalence of the interpretation of questionnaire scores across countries is tested using methods that closely approximate their intended use, and empirical results are compared. Data analyses from Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as other research cited, support the feasibility of cross-cultural health measurement using the SF-36.

Type
General Essays
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Aaronson, N. K., Acquadro, C., Alonso, J., et al. International quality of life assessment (IQOLA) project. Quality of Life Research, 1992, 1, 349–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Aaronson, N. K., Bullinger, M., & Ahmedzai, S.A modular approach to quality-of-life assessment in cancer clinical trials. Recent Results in Cancer Research, 1988, 111, 231–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Almagor, M., & Ben-Porath, Y. S.The two-factor model of self-reported mood: A cross-cultural replication. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1989, 53, 1021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Anderson, G. F., Alonso, J., Kohn, L. T., & Black, C.Analyzing health outcomes through international comparisons. Medical Care, 1994, 32, 526634.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Anderson, R. T., Aaronson, N. K., & Wilkin, D.Critical review of the international assessments of health-related quality of life. Quality of Life Research, 1993, 2, 369–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Andrich, D.Rasch models for measurement. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1988.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Angel, R., & Cleary, P. D.The effects of social structure and culture on reported health. Social Science Quarterly, 1984, 65, 814–28.Google Scholar
8.Angel, R., & Thoits, P.The impact of culture on the cognitive structure of illness. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 1987, 11, 465–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Berwick, D. M., Murphy, J. M.Goldman, P. A., et al. Performance of a five-item mental health screening test. Medical Care, 1991, 29, 169–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Berzon, R., Hays, R. D., & Shumaker, S. A.International use, application and performance of health-related quality of life instruments. Quality of Life Research, 1993, 2, 367–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Bice, T. W., & Kalimo, E.Comparisons of health-related attitudes: A cross-national, factor analytic study. Social Science and Medicine, 1971, 5, 283318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Bice, T. W., & White, K. L.Cross-national comparative research on the utilization of medical services. Medical Care, 1971, 9, 253–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Blanc, H.Multilingual interviewing in Israel. American Journal of Sociology, 1956, 62, 205–09.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Bousquet, J., Knani, J., Dhivert, H., et al. Quality-of-life in asthma, I: Internal consistency and validity of the SF-36 questionnaire. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 1994, 149, 371–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Bracken, B. A., & Barona, A.State of the art procedures for translating, validating and using psychoeducational tests in cross-cultural assessment. School Psychology International, 1991, 12, 119–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Brazier, J. E., Harper, R., Jones, N. M. B., et al. Validating the SF-36 health survey questionnaire: New outcome measure for primary care. British Medical Journal, 1992, 305, 160–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Brislin, R. W.Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Research, 1970, 1, 185216.Google Scholar
18.Bullinger, M. Ensuring international equivalence of quality of life measures: Problems and approaches to solutions. In Orley, J.. & Kuyken, W. (eds). Quality of life assessment: International perspectives. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1994, 3340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Bullinger, M. German translation and psychometric testing of the SF-36 Health Survey: Preliminary results from the IQOLA Project. Social Science and Medicine, in press.Google Scholar
20.Bullinger, M., Anderson, R., Cella, D., & Aaronson, N.Developing and evaluating cross-cultural instruments from minimum requirements to optimal models. Quality of Life Research, 1993, 2, 451–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21.Buss, A. R., & Royce, J. R.Detecting cross-cultural commonalities and differences: Intergroup factor analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 1975, 82, 128–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Candell, G. L., & Hulin, C. L.Cross-language and cross-cultural comparisons in scale translations: Independent sources of information about item nonequivalence. Journal of Cross-Culture Psychology, 1986, 17, 417–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Cattell, R. B.Comparing factor trait and state scores across ages and cultures. Journal of Gerontology, 1989, 24, 348–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Chapman, D. W., & Carter, J. F.Translation procedures for the cross cultural use of measurement instruments. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 1978, 1, 7176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25.Cleary, P. D., Greenfield, S., & McNeil, B. J.Assessing quality of life after surgery. Controlled Clinical Trials, 1991, 12, 189S–203S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26.Crocker, L., & Algina, J.Introduction to classical and modern test theory. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1986.Google Scholar
27.Cronbach, L. J.Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 1951, 16, 297334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28.Davidson, A. R., Jaccard, J. J., Triandis, H. C., et al. Cross-cultural model testing: Toward a solution of the emic-etic dilemma. International Journal of Psychology, 1976, 11, 113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Davies, A. R., & Ware, J. E.Measuring health perceptions in the health insurance experiment. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 1981. R-2711-HHS.Google Scholar
30.de Figueiredo, J. M., & Lemkau, P. V.Psychiatric interviewing across cultures: Some problems and prospects. Social Psychiatry, 1980, 15, 117-21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31.Dressier, W. W., Viteri, F. E., Chavez, A., et al. Comparative research in social epidemiology: Measurement issues. Ethnicity and Disease, 1991, 1, 379–93.Google Scholar
32.Ellis, B. B., & Kimmel, H. D.Identification of unique cultural response patterns by means of item response theory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1992, 77, 177–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33.EuroQOL Group. EuroQOL: Anew facility for the measurement of health-related quality of life. Health Policy, 1990, 16, 199208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34.Gardner, P. L.Scales and statistics. Review of Educational Research, 1975, 45, 4357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35.Garatt, A. M., Ruta, D. A., Abdalla, M. I., et al. The SF-36 Health survey questionnaire: An outcome measure suitable for routine use within the NHS? British Medical Journal, 1993, 306, 1440–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
36.Gelberg, L., & Linn, L.Assessing the physical health of homeless adults. Journal of the American Medical Association, 1989, 262, 1973–79.Google ScholarPubMed
37.Gelberg, L., Linn, L. S., & Leake, D. B.Mental health, alcohol and drug use, and criminal history among homeless adults. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1988, 145, 191–96.Google ScholarPubMed
38.Guarnaccia, P. J., Good, B. J., & Kleinman, A.A critical review of epidemiological studies of Puerto Rican mental health. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1990, 147, 1449–56.Google ScholarPubMed
39.Guillemin, F., Bombardier, C., & Beaton, D.Cross-cultural adaption of health-related quality of life measures: Literature review and proposed guidelines. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 1993, 46, 1417–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
40.Guyatt, G. H.The philosophy of health-related quality of life translation. Quality of Life Research, 1993, 2, 461–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
41.Haley, S. M., McHorney, C. A., & Ware, J. W.Evaluation of the MOS SF-36 Physical Functioning scale (PF-10), I: Unidimensionality and reproducibility of the Rasch item scale. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 1994, 47, 671–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
42.Haley, S. M., McHorney, C. A., & Ware, J. E. Evaluation of the MOS SF-36 Physical Functioning scale (PF-10). II: Comparison of relative precision using Likert and Rasch scoring methods. Unpublished.Google Scholar
43.Harman, H. H.Modern factor analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976.Google Scholar
44.Hays, R. D., Sherbourne, C. D., & Mazel, R. M.The RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0. Health Economics, 1993, 2, 217–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
45.Helmstadter, G. C.Principles of psychological measurement. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1964.Google Scholar
46.Heyman, D. K., & Jeffers, F. C.Effect of time lapse on consistency of self-health and medical evaluations of elderly persons. Journal of Gerontology, 1963, 18, 160–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
47.Howard, K. I., & Forehand, G. G.A method for correcting item-total correlations for the effect of relevant item inclusion. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 1962, 22, 731–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
48.Hui, C. H., & Triandis, H. C.Measurement in cross-cultural psychology: A review and comparison of strategies. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1985, 16, 131–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
49.Hulin, C. L.A psychometric theory of evaluations of item and scale translations: Fidelity across languages. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1987, 18, 115–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
50.Hulin, C. L., Drasgow, F., & Komocar, J.Applications of item responses theory to analysis of attitude scale translations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1982, 67, 818–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
51.Hunt, S. M.Cross-cultural comparability of quality of life measures. Drug Information Journal, 1993, 27, 395400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
52.Hunt, S. M.Cross-cultural issues in the use of socio-medical indicators. Health Policy, 1986, 6, 149–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
53.Hunt, S. M., Alonzo, J., Bucquet, D., et al. Cross-cultural adaptation of health measures. Heath Policy, 1991, 19, 3344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
54.Hunt, S. M., McEwen, J., & McKenna, S. P.Measuring health status. Dover, NH: Croom Helm, 1986.Google Scholar
55.Hunt, S. M., & McKenna, S.Cross-cultural comparability of quality of life measures. British Journal of Medical Economics, 1992, 4, 1723.Google Scholar
56.Hunt, W. L., Crane, W. W., & Wahlke, J. C.Interviewing political elites in cross-cultural comparative research. American Journal of Sociology, 1964, 70, 5968.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
57.Idler, E. L., & Angel, R.Self-rated health and mortality in the NHANES-I epidemiologic follow-up study. American Journal of Public Health, 1990, 80, 446–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
58.Idler, E. L., Kasl, S. V., & Lemke, J. H.Self-evaluated health and mortality among the elderly in New Haven, Connecticut, and Iowa and Washington counties, Iowa, 1982–1986. American Journal of Epidemiology, 1990, 13, 91103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
59.Irvine, S. H.Adapting tests to the cultural setting: A comment. Occupational Psychology, 1965, 39, 1323.Google Scholar
60.Jenkinson, C., Coulter, A., & Wright, L.Short form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey Questionnaire: Normative data for adults of working age. British Medical Journal, 1993, 306, 1437–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
61.Jenkinson, C., Wright, L., & Coulter, A.Criterion validity and reliability of the SF-36 in a population sample. Quality of Life Research, 1994, 3, 712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
62.Jenkinson, C., Wright, L., & Coulter, A.Quality of life measurement in health care: A review of measures and population norms for the UK SF-36. Oxford, England: Health Services Research Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Oxford, 1993.Google Scholar
63.Kerlinger, F. N.Foundations of behavioral research. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964.Google Scholar
64.Kim, J., & Mueller, C. W.Factor analysis: Statistical methods and practical issues. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1978.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
65.Kleinman, A., Eisenberg, L., & Good, B.Culture, illness, and care: Clinical lessons from anthropologic and cross-cultural research. Annals of Internal Medicine, 1978, 88, 251–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
66.Kuyken, W., Orley, J., Hudelson, P., & Sartorius, N.Quality of life assessment across cultures. International Journal of Mental Health, 1994, 23, 527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
67.Lancaster, T. R., Singer, D. E., Sheehan, M.A., et al. The impact of long-term warfarin therapy on quality of life: Evidence from a randomized trial. Archives of Internal Medicine, 1991, 151, 1944–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
68.Liang, J., Wu, S. C., Krause, N. M., et al. The structure of the mental health inventory among Chinese in Taiwan. Medical Care, 1992, 30, 659–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
69.Likert, R.A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Archives of Psychology. 1932, 140, 555.Google Scholar
70.Marshall, P. A.Cultural influences on perceived quality of life. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 1990, 6, 278–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
71.McHorney, C. A., Kosinski, M., & Ware, J. E.Comparisons of the costs and quality of norms for the SF-36 Health Survey collected by mail versus telephone interview: Results from a national survey, Medical Care, 1994, 32, 551–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
72.McHoney, C. A., Ware, J. E., Lu, J. F. R., & Sherbourne, C. D.The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36), III. Tests of data quality, scaling assumptions and reliability across diverse patient groups, Medical Care, 1994, 32, 4066.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
73.McHorney, C. A., Ware, J. E., & Raczek, A. E.The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36), II: Psychometric and clinical tests of validity in measuring physical and mental health constructs. Medical Care, 1993, 31, 247–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
74.Medical Outcomes Trust. Medical Outcomes Trust: Improving medical outcomes from the patient’s point of view. Boston, MA: Medical Outcomes Trust, 1991.Google Scholar
75.Medical Outcomes Trust. How to score the SF-36 short-form health survey. Boston: The Medical Outcome Trust, 1992.Google Scholar
76.Medical Outcomes Trust. SF-36 Health Survey scoring manual for English language adaptations: Australia/New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom. Boston, MA: The Health Institute, 1994.Google Scholar
77.Nunnally, J. C.Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978.Google Scholar
78.Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. R.Psychometric theory, 3rd ed.New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.Google Scholar
79.Osterhaus, J. T., Townsend, R. J., Gandek, B., & Ware, J. E.Measuring the functional status and well-being of patients with migraine headaches. Headache, 1994, 34, 337–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
80.Patrick, D. L., & Erickson, P.Health status and health policy: Allocating resources to health care. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.Google Scholar
81.Pedhazur, E. J., & Schmelkin, L. P.Measurement, design, and analysis: An integrated approach. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991.Google Scholar
82.Phillips, R. C., & Lansky, D. J.Outcomes management in heart valve replacement surgery: Early experience. Journal of Heart Valve Disease, 1992, 1, 4250.Google ScholarPubMed
83.Rasch, B. G.An item analysis which takes individual differences into account. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 1966; 19, 4957.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
84.Scott-Lennox, J. A., Wu, A. W., Boyer, J. G., et al. A multinational psychometric validation of Italian, German, English (U.K.), Dutch, and French translations of the MOS HIV Health Status Questionnaire. AIDS’Impact: Biopsychosocial Aspects of HIV Infection, 2nd International Conference. 1994, Brighton, U.K., S4.6.Google Scholar
85.Sechrest, L., Fay, T. L., & Zaidi, S. M. H.Problems of translation in cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1972, 3, 4156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
86.Stevens, J.Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992.Google Scholar
87.Stewart, A. L., & Ware, J. E. (eds.) Measuring functioning and well-being: The medical outcomes study approach. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1992.Google Scholar
88.Stoller, E. P.Self-assessments of health by the elderly: The impact of informal assistance. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 1984, 25, 260–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
89.Straus, M. A.Phenomenal identity and conceptual equivalence of measurement in cross national comparative research. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1969, 31, 233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
90.Sullivan, M., & Karlsson, J.SF-36 Hälsoenkät: Svensk manual och tolkningsguide (Swedish manual and interpretation guide). Gothenburg: Sahlgrenska University Hospital, 1994.Google Scholar
91.Sullivan, M., Karlsson, J., & Ware, J. E. The Swedish SF-36 health survey: I. Evaluation of data quality, scaling assumptions, reliability, and construct validity across general populations in Sweden. Social Science and Medicine, in press.Google Scholar
92.Thalji, L., Haggerty, C. C., Rubin, R., et al. 1990 national survey of functional health status: Final report. Chicago, IL: NORC, 1991.Google Scholar
93.Thurstone, L. L., & Chave, E. J.The measurement of attitude. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929.Google Scholar
94.Triandis, H. C., & Brislin, R. W.Cross-cultural psychology. American Psychologist, 1984, 39, 1006–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
95.U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. International health statistics: What the numbers mean for the United States — Background paper. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993, OTA-BP-H-116.Google Scholar
96.van Tulder, M. W., Aaronson, N. K., & Bruning, P. F.The quality of life of long-term survivors of Hodgkin's disease. Annals of Oncology, 1994, 5, 152–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
97.Ware, J. E., Davies-Avery, A., & Donald, C. A.Conceptualization and measurement of health for adults in the Health Insurance Study, vol. 5: General health perceptions. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1978, R-1987/5-HEW.Google Scholar
98.Ware, J. E., Gandek, B., Keller, S. D., & the IQOLA Project Group. Evaluating instruments used cross-nationally: Methods from the IQOLA Project. In Spilker, B. (ed.), Quality of life and pharmacoeconomics in clinical trials, 2nd ed., in press.Google Scholar
99.Ware, J. E., Gandek, B., & the IQOLA Project Group. The SF-36 Health Survey: Development and use in mental health research and the IQOLA Project. International Journal of Mental Health, 1994, 23, 4973.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
100.Ware, J. E., Keller, S., Bentler, P. M., et al. Comparisons of health status measurement models and the validity of SF-36 in Great Britain, Sweden and the USA. Quality of Life Research, 1994, 3, 68.Google Scholar
101.Ware, J. E., Kosinski, M., Bayliss, M. S., et al. Comparison of methods scoring and statistical analysis of SF-36 health profiles and summary measures: Summary of results from the Medical Outcomes Study. Medical Care, 1995, 33 (Suppl. 4), AS264–AS279.Google Scholar
102.Ware, J. E., Kosinski, M., & Keller, S. D.SF-36 Physical and mental summary scales: A user’s manual. Boston, MA: New England Medical Center The Health Institute, 1994.Google Scholar
103.Ware, J. E., & Sherbourne, C. D.The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36), I: Conceptual framework and item selection. Medical Care, 1992, 30, 473–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
104.Ware, J. E., Snow, K. K., Kosinski, M., & Gandek, B.SF-36 Health survey manual and interpretation guide. Boston, MA: New England Medical Center, The Health Institute, 1993.Google Scholar
105.Weinberger, M., Samsa, G. P., Hanlon, J. T., et al. An evaluation of a brief health status measure in elderly veterans. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 1991, 39, 691–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
106.WHOQOL Group, Division of Mental Health, World Health Organization. Study protocol for the World Health Organization Project to develop a quality of life assessment instrument (WHOQOL). Quality of Life Research, 1993, 2, 153–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
107.Zambrana, R. E. Cross-cultural methodologic strategies in the study of low income racial ethnic populations. In Hibbard, H., Nutting, P. A., & Grady, M. L.. (eds.) Primary care research: Theory and methods. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1991, 221–27.Google Scholar