The cross-cultural adaptation of the work role functioning questionnaire to Dutch

Abstract

Objective: The study objectives were to perform a cross-cultural adaptation of the Work Role Functioning Questionnaire, a health-related work outcome measure, into Dutch and to assess the questionnaire's reliability and validity in the Dutch context (WRFQ-DV).

Participants: 40 workers with a health problem (duration > one month).

Methods: The WRFQ translation and adaptation were conducted using a systematic approach with the following steps: forward translation, synthesis, back-translation, consolidation of translations with expert committee, and pre-testing. To evaluate the comprehensibility, usability, applicability and completeness of the translated questionnaire, a total of 40 interviews with workers with a health problem were performed.

Results: The questionnaire translation was conducted without major difficulties. During the process, questionnaire instructions were modified and 5 items reformulated based on the participants' responses. Participants were positive on the comprehensibility, usability, applicability and completeness of the questionnaire, and also made suggestions for the further development of the WRFQ-DV. Furthermore, the study shows promising results concerning the psychometric properties of the WRFQ-DV (e.g. Cronbach's alphas for the subscales between 0.70 and 0.91, and good content validity).

Conclusions: The results indicate that the cross-cultural adaptation of the WRFQ-DV was successful and that the psychometric properties of the translated version are promising.