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Italian version of the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory—Head and Neck Module: linguistic validation

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Abstract

Background

Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients can experience symptoms due to the tumor itself or to the treatment, with an impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures pertaining to HRQoL are used in medical research and to support clinical decisions. PRO instrument applicability and cultural adaptation must be tested for each population. The aim of this study is to linguistically validate the Italian translation of the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory—Head and Neck Module (MDASI-HN).

Methods

Following forward and backward translation of the items of the English MDASI-HN into Italian, it was administered along with a cognitive debriefing to HNC patients able to read and understand Italian language. Individual and group responses are presented using descriptive statistics.

Results

From May 2013 through September 2013, 56 patients with HNC (18 during curative treatment, 20 in palliative chemotherapy, and 18 in follow-up period) completed the MDASI-HN followed by accompanying cognitive debriefing. Ninety-nine percent of the individual MDASI-HN items were completed. Average time to complete the MDASI-HN was 8.5 min (range 3–15). Results suggested overall ease of completion, relevance, and comprehensibleness of this translated self-report instrument in this Italian patient population.

Conclusions

The Italian version of the MDASI-HN is linguistically valid; future research should explore dimensionality, reliability, and convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of this patient-reported instrument, in order to use this translated version in outcomes research and clinical settings.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Milan “Bicocca”, Milan, Italy

    A. Greco, M. Sala, D. Monzani & P. Steca

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

    E. Orlandi, C. Fallai & N. A. Iacovelli

  3. Department of Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

    A. Mirabile, L. Licitra & P. Bossi

  4. Unit of Radiotherapy, Policlinico Umberto I, University “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    S. Takanen

  5. Medical Ethics Committees of the Teaching Hospital “S. Croce e Carle”, Cuneo, Italy

    A. Rimedio

  6. Department of Radiation Oncology, Teaching Hospital “S. Croce e Carle”, Cuneo, Italy

    E. Russi

  7. Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    D. I. Rosenthal & G. B. Gunn

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  1. A. Greco
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  2. E. Orlandi
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  3. A. Mirabile
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  8. E. Russi
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  9. M. Sala
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Correspondence to P. Bossi.

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Greco, A., Orlandi, E., Mirabile, A. et al. Italian version of the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory—Head and Neck Module: linguistic validation. Support Care Cancer 23, 3465–3472 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2701-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2701-1

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