The Aging Males' Symptoms rating scale: cultural and linguistic validation into Thai.

ABSTRACT

The interest in clinically investigating the health-related quality of life and symptoms of aging males has increased in recent years. Recently, a couple of validated questionnaires have been proposed for either screening, diagnosing and assessing response to therapy. Among these, the Aging Males' Symptom (AMS) questionnaire has been one of the most accepted questionnaires used in aging male clinics worldwide. The AMS questionnaire was originally developed and standardized in Germany in accordance with psychometric tests, and translated into English. The objective of this study was to develop the Thai AMS questionnaire, which is culturally and linguistically validated, and to present the translation process from English to Thai. The translation for the Thai speaking culture was planned specifically for use in Thailand. The forward translation into Thai was performed independently by two Thai-English translators with clinical experience in the aging male field. Another two Thai-English translators performed the back translation into English. Reconciliation of problematic items or explanations with the investigators was performed point by point to get the final version. The test and retest of Thai AMS questionnaire were performed within the time interval of 14 days by 20 Thai men aged 41-62 who came from different social classes and had various levels of education. The correlation between the first and the second questionnaires was statistically analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient (r). The results of the linguistic and cultural adaptation of the English AMS scale led to a Thai AMS questionnaire. The results of the test and retest reliability demonstrated good correlation and were promising (r = 0.87). Therefore, this scale can be used as a valuable tool for assessing symptoms in the aging males in Thailand.