Background/Purpose:

The Revised Symptom Impact Questionnaire (SIQR) is an updated version of the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) that can be used in both fibromyalgia and non-fibromyalgia patients (FM). The SIQR has been translated into 8 other languages but no Russian version is currently available, even though Russian asylum seekers are the fast-growing segment of North America. Unrelenting stress endured by refugees and immigrants put them at increased risk for multiple health related problems, including FM. However, no tool currently exists to monitor FM in Russian speakers of the former Soviet bloc. This project describes the process of creating a culturally appropriate scale to assess FM severity in Russian speaking people.

Methods:

We used the Mapi Research Trust process to translate a validated questionnaire to Russian. The SIQR is a 21-item scale consisting of 3 subscales which assess physical functioning, common symptoms experienced in fibromyalgia, and global impact. The process of translation and validation of the SIQR involved: conceptual analysis of source questionnaire, forward/backward translation, committee review, pretesting, and revision.

Results:

The author (NMN) and 2 Russian interpreters translated the English version of the SIQR. A certified translator with formal education in the Russia Federation evaluated the translation. These 3 bilingual individuals back-translated the questionnaire. Committee review of the back translation was done by the original developers (RMB, RF & KDJ). 12 Russian speakers completed the pretest questionnaire. As expected, there were some challenges creating equivalent questionnaire items, mostly involving the physical function items. For example, some subjects endorsed the words “ходить в магазин” (go to a store), while others prefered “ходить за покупками” (go shopping). For the final version the translators used “xодить за продовольственными продуктами” (go shopping for groceries). Additionally, masculine, feminine and gender neutral noun and verb tenses were used to ensure semantic equivalence. Thus, some words separated gender by slash punctuation. One example of gender was, “Я был/былa полностью подавлен/подавленa моим симптомами” (I felt completely overwhelmed by my symptoms).

Conclusion: We developed a semantically equivalent translation of the SIQR in the Russian language. We are now testing it in a larger sample of Russian speaking patients living in the United States to establish its psychometric properties, including its reliability and validity.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/fibromyalgia-in-russian-refugees-translation-and-validation-of-the-revised-symptom-impact-questionnaire/