Translation and Validation of Stoma Quality of Life Scale in Tamil

Tamil Nadu contributes to around 6% of the cancer burden annually, wherein colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers. Assessing the quality of life provides a comprehensive understanding of a cancer patient's experience with diagnosis and treatment. While numerous studies have developed tools to assess quality of life, most focus on physical well-being aspects. The Stoma Quality of Life Scale (SQLS) Version II is a well-established tool specifically designed to assess the quality of life of colostomy patients. However, a validated Tamil version of this scale is currently unavailable. This study aims to translate the Stoma Quality of Life Scale Version II from English to Tamil and validate its use for Tamil-speaking colostomy patients. The Stoma Quality of Life Scale Version II was translated following the European Organization Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) translation guidelines and underwent pilot testing on 30 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. They further underwent a debriefing interview regarding the comprehensibility and difficulty levels of the items. The forward translation revealed the difference in the language used by the two individual translators, including the meaning of the word and syntaxes, at the same time backward translation found out the differences in their perception of the items. The debriefing interview revealed that out of 21 items, four items needed clarification by 6.6% of the patients and 93.4% of the patients were able to comprehend and respond to the items without any clarification and support. The translated tool of the Stoma Quality of Life Scale had a more simplified administrative process, as it was self-administrative, less time consuming, and more comprehensible.