| To date, there have been inadequate measures of the impact of rapidly changing perinatal care from the perspective of Japanese women. This study developed a survey that measures Japanese women's experience from planning pregnancy through early postpartum. The U.S. "Listening to Mothers-II (LTM-II)" questionnaire was translated and culturally adapted.Based on the U.S. Census Language Translation Guidelines, methods included: review of the literature, use of multiple professional expert panels in the U.S. and Japan, translation by a bilingual committee, and two phases of cognitive interviews with 20 postpartum Japanese adult women. Content validity and equivalence of the translated questionnaire were assessed.The number of problems with the translated questionnaire effectively decreased in the iterative process using feedback and revisions to achieve the fifth and final translated version. Most problems were found in the question interpretation stage of cognitive processing, and about half of the interpretation problems were wordings/tone. Culture-specific concepts and unclear items were adapted to prevent ambiguous or erroneous interpretations in future studies. Women preferred in-person interviews to other modes of data collection for future studies.Results supported the validity of translation and cultural adaptation of the LTM-II questionnaire for Japanese women within two years after birth, in rural and urban environments, and with varied education and income levels. Questions were revised to capture Japanese women's experience and facilitate cross-cultural comparisons. The future dataset will be useful for professionals interested in developing evidence-based practices and improving health care services. |
