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Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Chinese version of irritable bowel syndrome severity
Qian Li1,2,3, Jia-Hao Mo3, Hui-Qi Chen1,3
1State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Objective:
Given that the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS) is widely utilized in IBS-related clinical research but lacks an officially approved Chinese version (IBS-SSS-C), which has impeded its application in Chinese research contexts. This study aims to translate and cross-culturally adapt the IBS-SSS into a Chinese version, and validate its key properties, thereby developing a reliable and officially recognized tool for assessing IBS severity among the Chinese population.
Methods:
We obtained translation permission for the IBS-SSS from the Rome Foundation, and translated and cross-culturally adapted it into a Chinese version according to the official guideline. Validation was performed as clinical trials assessing responsiveness to change (n = 95), test-retest reliability (n = 35) and the floor-ceiling effects (n = 95) of IBS-SSS-C. We assessed the IBS-SSS-C score's responsiveness to change using adequate relief (AR) as an anchor.
Results:
Through forward and backward translation, and cross-cultural adaption, the IBS-SSS-C was developed and approved for use by the Rome Foundation. A significance difference in the absolute change of the IBS-SSS-C total score before and after treatment was found in the AR responder and non-responder groups (p = 0.001). This trend also emerged for the items abdominal pain severity (p = 0.032), abdominal pain frequency (p = 0.001), and bowel habit satisfaction (p = 0.036). There was good test-retest reliability (r = 0.72) for the IBS-SSS-C total score, and a moderate to good correlation (r = 0.41-0.81) for each of its items. No floor or ceiling effect was found in either IBS-SSS-C or any of its item.
Conclusion:
Our findings indicate that the IBS-SSS-C appears to be a reliable and appropriate instrument for IBS outcome assessment in the Chinese population; nevertheless, further validation in larger-scale, multi-center studies is required.
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