Reliability and validity study of the translated Arabic version of Moorehead-Ardelt Quality of Life Questionnaire II

To generate a translated Arabic adaptation of the revised Moorehead-Ardelt Quality of Life Questionnaire II (MA-II), then to assess its reliability and validity.

The MA-II was translated to Arabic by 3 independent translators. Next, a concise translation, developed from the 3 translations, was re-translated to English and was compared with the original questionnaire. Both the reliability and the validity of the Arabic MA-II were assessed in 144 patients struggling with obesity before and after bariatric procedures at Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Apart from the demographic data, both the MA-II and the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) were used to collect health-related quality of life (HRQL) data. The test-retest method and Cronbach's alpha (α)were used to assess reliability and internal consistency.

Test-retest reliability exhibited an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.966. The internal consistency of the translated version was also high (α=0.812). A satisfactory correlation was demonstrated between the translated Arabic version and the 8 items of the SF-36. A significant negative correlation was also observed between the MA-II and body mass index (r= -0.5778, p<0.001).

The robustness and sustainability of the translated Arabic version of the MA-II suggested that this disease-specific instrument is a reliable and valid tool for the measurement of HRQL in obease Arabic-speaking people.