Objectives: The Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ), developed in UK English by Professor Clare Bradley, is a reliable, valid and widely used 8-itemmeasure of treatment satisfaction (6 items) and perceived frequency of hyper-/ hypoglycaemia (2 items), validated in >100 languages. Arabic and French versions for Algeria were required for multinational clinical trials, necessitating linguistic validation of both languages. Methods: FDA- and ISPOR-compliant methodology was used: 1) Review of developer-provided materials including concept definitions; 2) adaptation for Algeria from existing Arabic and French versions of the DTSQ (already validated for use elsewhere); 3) back translations into English and review by TransPerfect; 4) developer’s team (HPR) review and agreement on interim version; 5) diabetes clinician review; 6) further HPR review; 7) cognitive interviewing with 5 patients with diabetes (Type 1 and 2)each for the two languages; 8) final HPR review; 8) final proofreading / formatting by native-language linguists. Results: Adaptation of the Arabic and French language versions for Algeria presented interesting challenges. These included variable literacy levels, multiple dialects, as well as the complex relationships between vernacular Algerian Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic. Various changes to the standard French were required for comprehension to be ensured in Algeria. Conclusions: Modern Standard Arabic was judged to be the most appropriate form of Arabic for Algeria. While some minor changes were implemented to adjust for the local population, the wide variability throughout Algeria made full adaptation to a specific dialect inappropriate. Standard French without adaptation was found to be unsuitable for Algeria. Also notable is the importance of interviewing different respondents for the different languages (given many Algerians are fluent in both languages). Linguistically validated Arabic and French versions of the DTSQ for Algeria are now available for use.

Dawsey, R., et al., PRM91 - Linguistic validation of the DTSQ: Challenges with arabic and french for Algeria. Value in Health, 2014. 17(3): p. A196-A197.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274023260