Cross cultural equivalence testing of the Prosthetic Evaluation Questionnaire (PEQ) for an Arabic speaking population

There are currently no published prosthetic-related outcome measurement tools (OMT) available in the Arabic language.

The aim of this study was to translate the Prosthetic Evaluation Questionnaire (PEQ) into Arabic, ensuring cross-cultural equivalence with the original English language version.

Psychometric property testing.

The PEQ was culturally and linguistically adapted from English to Arabic using a process of forward translation, backward translation, committee review and pre-testing. Pre-testing was carried out in a clinical trial where subjects each completed the questionnaire in Arabic and English, and underwent random probe questioning. The data were compared and analysed, using intraclass correlation (ICC) and Bland Altman plots.

Seven patients gave consent and completed the study. For all nine PEQ scales, the ICC point estimate scores were above 0.8, indicating a good degree of correlation. However, for some scales, the 95% confidence interval was wide, indicating a large level of variation. The Bland Altman plots displayed a good distribution around the mean for most of the scales, although the results were affected by the small sample size.

The results of the analysis showed that the Arabic version of the PEQ was linguistically equivalent to the original version, although further testing with a larger sample group is recommended.

The availability of a prosthetic outcome measurement tool in Arabic will enable clinicians to collect evidence that can be used to monitor and improve patient care. As there is currently little information available about amputees in the Gulf region, this tool will be a useful resource to both clinicians and decision makers.