Developing a Conceptually Equivalent Type 2 Diabetes Risk Score for Indian Gujaratis in the UK

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Cross-Cultural Adaptation
• Diabetes Management

Background:

• Type 2 diabetes risk scores are crucial for early detection and prevention.
• Cross-cultural adaptation of health assessment tools is essential for equitable healthcare access.
• Existing translation models require validation for specific health tools like risk scores.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply and evaluate a cross-cultural translation model for a Gujarati version of the Leicester self-assessment type 2 diabetes risk score.
• To ensure conceptual equivalence and user comprehension of the translated risk score.
• To assess the suitability of a multicomponent translation approach for self-administered health risk tools.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a model of established cross-cultural translation methods.
• Incorporated iterative pretesting with semistructured interviews of Gujarati volunteers.
• Focused on assessing self-completion ability and understanding of the translated risk score and its components (e.g., BMI calculation).

Main Results:

• The pretesting phase with 18 Gujarati volunteers provided critical feedback for refining the risk score instructions.
• Volunteers found the Gujarati translation accessible for understanding diabetes risk concepts.
• A significant challenge identified was the difficulty many volunteers experienced in calculating their Body Mass Index (BMI).

Conclusions:

• This study represents the first application of a multicomponent translation model to adapt a type 2 diabetes risk score into Gujarati.
• The findings highlight the importance of iterative pretesting in identifying and addressing user-specific challenges in translated health tools.
• The project offers valuable insights into the transferability of this translation model for other self-completed risk scores across diverse health conditions and languages.