Korean version of the convalescence and recovery evaluation: translation and linguistic validation

BACKGROUND: To develop a Korean version of the original English version of the convalescence and recovery evaluation (CARE) questionnaire. The linguistic validation of the CARE questionnaire was tested on Korean patients who underwent abdominal and pelvic surgery. METHODS: The CARE questionnaire was translated and validated linguistically in the following steps. Permission to translate the Korean version of the original version, forward translation into the Korean, reconciliation, backward translation into English, cognitive debriefing through patient interviews, and finally proofreading. RESULTS: The forward translation was carried out by two independent bilingual translators with non-medical backgrounds. In the translation step to Korean, the terms “bloated and gassy” and “trouble concentrating” were adjusted to make them easier to understand. Backward translation was performed by another translator who was not included in the forward translation. At the backward-translation stage, the Korean version was accepted without any objection, almost matching the original version except for a few words. Cognitive debriefing by means of patient interviews was performed with 10 patients admitted to the department of urology for renal, bladder, and prostate cancer for cancer treatment. There was no difficulty in understanding the content of the questionnaire. Because most of the terms were clear and understandable, no further changes were made in the panel discussion. CONCLUSIONS: The Korean version of the CARE questionnaire has been verified and is ready for use. Additional testing steps are required for the psychometric performance of the Korean version of CARE.