Canadian English translation and linguistic validation of the 13-MD to measure global health-related quality of life

The 13-MD is a new instrument designed to measure more globally the various aspects of the health-related quality of life. Its structure is balanced around physical, mental, and social aspects of health. To translate the 13-MD into Canadian English and to ensure that it is conceptually equivalent to the original version in Canadian French. Forward and back translations were conducted. A linguistic validation was performed in both Canadian French and Canadian English following an iterative process. This validation was conducted with 15 participants in each group (French and English speakers) using face-to-face cognitive debriefing interviews. This process was done in accordance with academic standards. The two forward translations resulted in 35.8% of identical sentences (59/165). Back translation indicated that 83.6% of the sentences were identical or almost identical to the original Canadian French version. The review of the back translation led to a few changes in the reconciled forward translation (4/165) and the original version (11/165), while the linguistic validation process led to 24 changes over a possibility of 165 sentences in the Canadian English version and 6 over 165 in the Canadian French version. Most changes provided were minimal and were done to ensure a better understanding of the 13-MD. The translation and linguistic validation processes were successful in creating a valid 13-MD in Canadian English (13-MD-CE) that is conceptually equivalent to the original version.

13-MD是一款新型测评工具，旨在更全面地测量与健康相关的生活质量的各维度。其结构围绕健康的生理、心理与社会三大维度实现均衡构建。为将13-MD翻译为加拿大英语版本，并确保其与原加拿大法语版本在概念上等效，研究团队开展了正向翻译与回译工作。随后遵循迭代流程，分别针对加拿大法语与加拿大英语版本开展语言验证工作：验证以面对面认知访谈的形式进行，每组各招募15名参与者（分别为法语使用者与英语使用者），且全程严格遵循学术规范。两次正向翻译结果显示，35.8%的句子（59/165）完全一致。回译结果表明，83.6%的句子与原加拿大法语版本完全一致或高度近似。对回译结果的审阅使得协调后的正向翻译版本（4/165）与原版本（11/165）均产生少量调整；而语言验证流程中，加拿大英语版的165个句子共完成24处修改，加拿大法语版的165个句子共完成6处修改。绝大多数修改均为微调，旨在提升13-MD的可理解性。本次翻译与语言验证工作成功开发出了概念上与原版本等效的加拿大英语版13-MD（13-MD-CE）。