Completion of the French Translation and Linguistic Validation of the BODY-Q.

BACKGROUND

The BODY-Q is a new patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument designed to measure patient perceptions of weight loss and/or body contouring procedure. A report regarding the translation procedure into French and its preliminary results has been previously published. We here describe the finalization of the translation process and cultural validation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The translation process followed guidelines established by the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcome Research (ISPOR) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). The process included two forward translations, one backward translation, a review by a panel of expert and cognitive debriefing interviews with patients.

RESULTS

The 26 scales of the BODY-Q were translated and adapted into French. Each step of the process allowed to make changes leading to a conceptually and culturally equivalent French version. Backward translation comparison to the English version led to the identification of 16 differences necessitating re-translation. Overall feedback from patients over the final version was excellent.

CONCLUSIONS

The BODY-Q proved to be a reliable and suited PRO for bariatric and body contouring patients. The thorough method of translation and cultural adaptation allowed us to achieve a conceptually and culturally valid French translation of the BODY-Q.