Translation and validation of the Arabic version of the patient determined disease steps in people with multiple sclerosis

ABSTRACT

Background

The Patient Determined Disease Steps (PDDS) is a patient-reported outcome that measures disease severity in People with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS). It is crucial to have instruments in various languages to ease the use and interpretation of clinical and research findings among PwMS.

Objective

To translate the PDDS into the Arabic language and explore its reliability and criterion validity with the EDSS, and convergent validity with fatigue, walking, and balance assessments.

Methods

Backward and forward translation methods were used to generate the PDDS translated version (PDDS-A). A total of 115 PwMS, mean age: 33.7 (SD, 10.6) completed the PDDS-A, the EDSS, and the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale Arabic version (MFIS-A). A sub-sample N = 89 performed walking and balance assessments. The PDDS-A was reevaluated after 2–3 weeks to measure its test-retest reliability.

Results

There was a strong correlation between the PDDS-A and EDSS (rho = 0.864). PDDS-A was moderately associated with the MFIS-A total score (rho = 0.598) and its subcomponents (physical: rho = 0.642, and cognitive: rho = 0.474). The PDDS-A showed significant correlations with walking endurance and speed, and balance. There was excellent test-retest reliability: 0.942 (95% CI 0.896–0.968).

Conclusion

The PDDS-A is a reliable and valid tool that can be used among Arabic-speaking PwMS.

KEYWORDS:

• Multiple sclerosis
• translation
• validation
• fatigue
• Arabic

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported and funded by the University of Jordan Deanship of Scientific Research [Grant Number: 1946].