| BackgroundLow back pain (LBP) is one of the most common conditions in clinical practice today. It is reported that almost everyone suffers from LBP in their lifetime, and approximately 4-33% of worldwide population is suffering at any given time. Barrero et al. found that as a result of rapid urbanization and industrialization, the prevalence of LBP has increased in developing counties. Meanwhile, some studies have reported that the long-term outcome of patients with LBP is nearly the same, regardless of the treatment they received. Therefore, the ability to properly evaluate a patients'LBP becomes very important. A traditional Chinese version of the ODI (TCODI) has been developed and used in Hong Kong. However, there is no simplified Chinese version of the ODI (SCODI). ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to translate and adapt the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) into simplified Chinese and to then validate its use in Chinese patients with low back pain (LBP).MethodsThe translation and adaptation processes were carried out following the guidelines for the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures. The translation procedure in this study had three stages, including forward translation, back translation, and an expert's committee discussion. Then, a pilot study was performed to test whether the pre-final version could be understood correctly by Chinese patients. The pre-final version was tested in 40 outpatients with LBP. The final version, based on the pre-final version, was obtained and tested for its validity and reliability together with the SF-36 questionnaire and the VAS (100mm). Then, 179 patients with LBP, including 140 outpatients and 39 inpatients, participated in the final test. They finished the SCODI, the Short Form 36, and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Those 39 inpatients also finished a second ODI questionnaire within 24 hours. The data was collected with the aid of the Microsoft EXCEL software and analyzed in SPSS for Windows version 12.0. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to examine the internal consistency. The reliability of the test-retest was measured by an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Pearson's correlation was examined among the scales of SF-36, the VAS, and the SCODI.ResultsAll of the patients in the pre-final test understood the simplified Chinese version correctly. In the final test, Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was 0.93. A very high intraclass correlation coefficient was observed (ICC= 0.99) in the test-retest group. The SCODI showed a significant correlation with the eight subscales of the Short Form 36, especially in physical functioning (r= 0.78, p<0.001). There was a moderate correlation between the ODI scores and the VAS (r=0.69, p<0.001). Several studies have compared the ODI with the SF-36 and the VAS, showing that there was a significant correlation between them. All of the results have shown that the SCODI maintained the excellent reliability and validity of the original version. There are also some new data generated from the structure of this particular study. First, outpatients and inpatients were compared in the final test. Second, detailed analyses were made of the missing data related to questions about the patients'sex life. Third, the characteristics of acute and chronic LBP patients were explored.ConclusionThe objectives of this study were to translate and adapt the latest version (2.1a) of the ODI into simplified Chinese. The results showed that the translation and adaptation were successful. The SCODI has proven to be valid and reliable when used in the simplified Chinese speaking population. This new version would be popular in the mainland, serving as a reliable and valid outcome measure in evaluating patients with LBP.
|
PDF Full Text Request