ABSTRACT
Rahul Krishnatry The aim of this study was to translate and validate the European Organization for Research and Treatment for Cancer (EORTC) "Radiation Proctitis" (PRT-20) module in Hindi, Marathi, and Bangla languages. The EORTC PRT-20 was translated into Hindi, Marathi, and Bangla using EORTC guidelines. Two separate translators first translated the original questionnaire into the three regional languages, following which a reconciled forward translation was compiled. This reconciled version in each language was then back-translated into English by two other translators. This back-translated version was then compared with the original the EORTC questionnaire for correctness, and the preliminary questionnaires were formed in all three languages. The EORTC translation unit approved the questionnaires. The preliminary questionnaires were administered to 30 patients (10 for each language) diagnosed with rectal or anal canal cancer who had received pelvic radiotherapy and were at risk of developing PRT. None of the patients had seen the questionnaire before. After filling out the questionnaire, each patient was interviewed for difficulty in answering, confusion, understanding, or if any of the questions were upsetting and if patients would have asked the question differently. No changes were suggested for Marathi and Bangla translations. Two modifications were suggested in the Hindi translation, which was then retested in five patients and finalized. All the suggestions were incorporated into the preliminary questionnaires, which were sent back to the EORTC for final approval. After reviewing the entire report of pilot testing for the translated quality-of-life questionaire-PRT-20 in three languages, it was approved by the EORTC translation unit. The translated questionnaires were reliable, with Cronbach α values of 0.767, 0.799, and 0.898 for Hindi, Marathi, and Bangla, respectively. The Hindi, Marathi, and Bangla translations of PRT-20 have been approved by the EORTC and can be used in routine clinical practice.
