Neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD) translation and linguistic validation to classical Arabic.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Gastroenterology
• Medical Translation

Background:

• Neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD) significantly impacts patients with neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury.
• Accurate assessment tools are crucial for managing NBD, but validated Arabic versions were lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To translate and linguistically validate the French neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD) questionnaire into classical Arabic.
• To assess the psychometric properties of the newly translated Arabic NBD questionnaire.

Main Methods:

• The French NBD questionnaire underwent forward and backward translation to create the Arabic version.
• Twenty-three patients with neurological conditions (MS, SCI) completed the Arabic NBD questionnaire twice, two weeks apart.
• Feasibility, acceptability, internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), and test-retest reliability (Spearman correlation) were evaluated.

Main Results:

• The Arabic NBD questionnaire demonstrated feasibility and acceptability, with no excluded items.
• High test-retest reliability was confirmed with a Spearman correlation of 0.842.
• Good internal consistency was achieved, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.896.

Conclusions:

• The translated Arabic version of the neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD) questionnaire is reproducible and has satisfactory construct validity.
• Further research with a larger cohort is needed to evaluate the responsiveness of the Arabic NBD to clinical changes.