Cross cultural adaptation of the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale from English into Arabic

Background Back disability measures are considered important by stake-holders as they offer a means of evaluating the effect of low back pain. The Quebec back pain disability Scale (QDS) is a commonly-used measure of back disability, but it has only been adapted into four languages. Method Using a combination of cross-cultural adaptation guidelines for self-reported measures, health professionals, methodologists and linguistics participants voluntarily cross cultural adaptation of the QDS was undertaken. At least three different participants were included in each of four stages. Results A pre-final version of the Arabic QDS was developed. The equivalence of the adapted measure to the original QDS version was agreed by examining it from four perspectives: idiomatic, experiential, conceptual and semantic. Implications The pre-final version is ready to be tested in almost any Arabic speaking population. This will give the opportunity to gather data in the third most widely spoken language worldwide, representing a target population of more than 500 million people. Conclusion The QDS can be cross-culturally adapted into Arabic without losing any concepts of the original scale; this adapted scale is ready for further testing.