Translation process of the tested Rome IV diagnostic questionnaire for functional gastrointestinal disorders into Saudi-Arabian Arabic: A mixed-methods approach

Elham A. Aljaaly; Mai A. Khatib

doi:10.12669/pjms.40.8.9126

Elham A. Aljaaly Clinical Nutrition Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 3625- King Abdulaziz University. Unit No. 75 Jeddah 22254-7783. Saudi Arabia
Mai A. Khatib 1: Clinical Nutrition Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 2: Food, nutrition, and Lifestyle Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.8.9126

Keywords: translatability, functional gastrointestinal disorders, diagnostic questionnaire, Arabic-Saudi Arabia, ROME IV, Chlildren

Abstract

Objective: A report on the cross-cultural adaptation and validation process of the Rome IV Diagnostic Questionnaire for children aged four years and over into Saudi-Arabian Arabic for use in assessing the prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders in children in Saudi Arabia.

Method: A mixed-methods approach was used in translating the 60-item original English version of the questionnaire. The process included four steps followed by a cognitive debriefing and was guided by the Rome Foundation. The questionnaire was tested for practicability with 10 participants of children aged four years and older. The whole study took place between October 2020 and April 2021.

Results: The original questionnaire repeated information on areas of pain experienced by children, which did not show up in the backward, English, translation. The back-translated version occasionally provided medical expressions that were then explained between parentheses in plain English, for example, dyspepsia (burning feeling). The expert panel indicated that all questionnaire items reached the set 90% agreement level, confirming that the questionnaire is fully understandable and valid for use. Preliminary testing with 10 participants (four years and older) revealed functional constipation to have the highest prevalence among the participants (40%, n=4), followed by irritable bowel syndrome (20%) and abdominal migraine (20%).

Conclusion: This study provides a detailed report on the translation process of the tested ROME- IV Diagnostic Questionnaire for children aged four years and over into Saudi Arabic following Rome Foundation guidelines. The results of the preliminary test should encourage researchers and clinicians in Saudi Arabia to utilize the tool for non-invasive diagnosis of functional gastrointestinal disorders in children.

Abbreviations: DQ: Diagnostic questionnaire, FGIDs: Functional gastrointestinal disorders, RF: Rome Foundation, TT: Translation team.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.8.9126

How to cite this: Aljaaly EA, Khatib MA. Translation process of the tested Rome IV diagnostic questionnaire for functional gastrointestinal disorders into Saudi-Arabian Arabic: A mixed-methods approach. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(8):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.8.9126

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.