Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Italian Spine Youth Quality of Life (ISYQOL) questionnaire's Arabic version

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) assessment is considered among the most relevant outcome measures following conservative and surgical interventions for various spinal conditions. Several questions are available to evaluate HRQOL in these conditions. A more recent Italian Spine Youth Quality of Life (ISYQOL) questionnaire was developed for this purpose and showed high validity in measuring HRQOL. To translate and adapt the ISYQOL questionnaire into Arabic language (ISYQOL-Ar) and evaluate its validity and reliability, and to correlate it with the validated revised Scoliosis Research Society (SRS-22r)'s Arabic questionnaire in a cross-sectional multicenter study. The ISYQOL was translated, back-translated, and reviewed by an expert committee. Reliability assessment for the questionnaire domains was performed using Cronbach's alpha. For construct validation, the Pearson's correlation coefficient was used. A total of 115 patients were enrolled in the study and completed the ISYQOL-Ar and Arabic SRS-22r questionnaires. A total of 72 patients (63%) completed the first set of questionnaires, and 2 weeks later, 63 patients (55%) completed both sets of questionnaires, with 15.8 a mean age, 39.5° mean Cobb angle of 88.9% females. ISYQOL-Ar showed excellent validity, good reliability, and internal consistency for spine health and brace wear, with Cronbach's alpha > 0.6, similar to SRS-22r in the same cohort. The correlation was significant between ISYQOL-Ar and Arabic SRS-22r (Pearson's coefficient = 0.708, P < .001). The ISYQOL-Ar questionnaire is a reliable and valid outcome measure for the assessment of young patients with spinal deformity among the Arabic-speaking population.