Stephen Bornheim

French translation and validation of the sarcopenia screening tool SARC-F

IntroductionThe purpose of the present study is to translate and validate into French the SARC-F questionnaire, a simple and easy screening tool for sarcopenia.Materials and methodsThe translation process has been divided into two consecutive parts: (1) the translation of the questionnaire from English to French and its language validation (inter-rater reliability and test–retest reliability); (2) the clinical validation of the French SARC-F to assess its performance (sensitivity, specificity, predictive positive value and predictive negative value) in a cohort of elderly Belgian subjects against 7 existing definitions of sarcopenia.ResultsThe translated French version of the SARC-F demonstrated an excellent inter-rater reliability, with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.90 (95% CI 0.76–0.96), as well as excellent test–retest reliability, with an ICC of 0.86 (95% CI 0.66–0.94). Afterwards, 306 subjects took part in the clinical validation of the French version of the SARC-F questionnaire. The results showed that sensitivity of the tool ranged from 22.1 to 75.0%, depending on the definition used for the diagnosis of sarcopenia, and the specificity ranged from 84.9 to 87.1%. Moreover, all positive predictive values were always below 50%; the lowest negative predictive value was 68.1%, and the best one reached approximately 99%.ConclusionsThe results are in line with the psychometric performance found in the initial English validation of the SARC-F and seem to indicate that this screening tool can detect with precision the absence of sarcopenia, but seems less precise in affirming the presence of this geriatric syndrome.

French translation and validation of the “Anterior Knee Pain Scale” (AKPS)

Abstract Purpose: To linguistically and cross-culturally translate the Anterior Knee Pain Scale into French and to evaluate the reliability and validity of this translated version of the questionnaire. Methods: The translation part was performed in six stages, according to international guidelines: (i) two initial translations from English to French; (ii) synthesis of the two translations; (iii) backward translations into the original language; (iv) expert committee to compare the backward translations with the original questionnaire; (v) pre-final version testing and (VI) expert committee appraisal. To validate the French version of the Anterior Knee Pain Scale, we assessed its validity, reliability and floor/ceiling effects. To do this, volunteer patients from the French part of Belgium and from France, with patellofemoral pain were asked to answer the French version of the Anterior Knee Pain Scale at baseline and after 7 days, as well as the generic SF-36 questionnaire. Results: The Anterior Knee Pain Scale was translated without any major difficulties. A total of 101 subjects aged 34.5 ± 11.4 years (58.4% of women) were included in this study. Results indicated an excellent test-retest reliability (Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.97, 95%CI: 0.96–0.98), a high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.87), a consistent construct validity (high correlations with the SF-36 questionnaire were found with domains related to physical function (r = 0.80), physical role (r = 0.70) and pain (r = 0.64)) and low or moderate correlations with domains related to mental health (r = 0.26), vitality (r = 0.32) and social function (r = 0.41). Moreover, no floor/ceiling effects have been found. Conclusions: A valid French version of the Anterior Knee Pain Scale is now available and can be used with confidence to better assess the disease burden associated with patellofemoral pain. It was successfully cross-culturally adapted into French. Implications for rehabilitation The results on psychometric properties of the French Anterior Knee Pain Scale are comparable with six validated versions obtained for the Finnish, the Turkish, the Chinese, the Dutch, the Thai and the Persian populations. The French translated version of the Anterior Knee Pain Scale is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the functional limitations associated with patellofemoral pain. The test–retest reliability of the French Anterior Knee Pain Scale was excellent, the internal consistency was high and the construct validity was consistent. There were no floor/ceiling effects.