Culturally adapted translation of LYMPH-Q upper extremity module from English to Mandarin Chinese

Ying-Sheng Lin; Hao-Chih Tai; Chiun-Sheng Huang

doi:10.1016/j.jfma.2024.01.010

Culturally adapted translation of LYMPH-Q upper extremity module from English to Mandarin Chinese

J Formos Med Assoc. 2024 Jan 8:S0929-6646(24)00029-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jfma.2024.01.010. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ying-Sheng Lin¹, Hao-Chih Tai², Chiun-Sheng Huang³

Affiliations

¹ Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin Branch, Yunlin County, Taiwan.
² Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: taihc@ntu.edu.tw.
³ Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.

PMID: 38195319
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfma.2024.01.010

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is one of the debilitating complications after breast cancer treatment. Several forms of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) were developed to evaluate the severity of BCRL based on the patients' perspective. LYMPH-Q Upper Extremity Module is a newly developed questionnaire for BCRL. This study aimed to demonstrate the process of translation and cultural adaption from English to Mandarin Chinese.

Methods and results: The translation process followed the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) best-practice guidelines for the translation and cultural adaption of PROM. The process included four steps: forward translation, back translation, back translation review, and patient interviews. In total, five patients with BCRL were recruited for patient interviews. The forward translation step involved two professional translators whose native language was Mandarin Chinese. A reconciled translated version was produced. In the back translation step, the reconciled translated version in Mandarin Chinese was sent to another professional translator whose native language was English. The back-translated version in English was sent back to the developer of LYMPH-Q for review. In this step, 22 items were revised. In the final step of patient interviews, 15 items were revised based on the patients' feedback.

Conclusion: The development of Mandarin Chinese version of LYMPH-Q Upper Extremity Module and its utilization in conjunction with the existing objective measures could provide a more well-rounded picture of the status of patients with BCRL worldwide.

Keywords: Breast cancer-related lymphedema; LYMPH-Q; Mandarin Chinese; Patient-reported outcome measure.