Introduction: Pyrosis symptoms and their impact on the quality of life related with health (QLRH) are frequently evaluated in clinical trials. When a questionnaire is translated into a language other than the original, it is necessary to have a linguistic validation, although this is not sufficient unless the psychometric characteristics have been verified. This study aims to document the psychometric characteristics of the translation to Spanish of the gastrointestinal symptoms rating scale (GSRS) and quality of life in reflux and dyspepsia (QOLRAD).
Material and method: One hundred fifty eight patients with pyrosis symptoms (age: 51.0; SD: 16.3 years; men: 42.4%) completed the translation to Spanish of the GSRS, the pyrosis version of the QOLRAD, the Short-Form-36 (SF-36) and the hospital of anxiety and depression (HAD) scale. Seventy six patients were given an appointment for a second visit after one week, to fill out the GSRS and QOLRAD again.
Results: The reliability of the internal consistence of the GSRS was 0.59-0.83 and that of the QOLRAD: 0.87-0.95, and test-retest reliability of the GSRS was 0.44-0.63 and QOLRAD: 0.77-0.85. Score of the important domains of the GSRS "reflux", "abdominal pain" and "indigestion" and above all those of the QOLRAD correlated significantly. The domain "abdominal pain" of the GSRS had a strong correlation (negative) with the relevant domains of the SF-36. The QOLRAD domains significantly correlated with all the related domains of the SF-36.
Conclusions: The psychometric characteristics of the translation to Spanish of the GSRS and QOLRAD were good, with satisfactory reliability and validity. However, the test-retest reliability of the "reflux" domain of the GSRS was not optimum.