Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire - Oral Health 15 into Hindi Version for Cancer Patients

Abstract

Objectives: The multidimensional concept of quality of life (QoL) has become vital in cancer care, and research and is crucial for epidemiological investigations. The primary objective of the research was to translate and culturally adapt the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire - Oral Health15 (EORTC QLQ OH15) questionnaire into Hindi, assessing its reliability and validity for implementation among cancer patients of Aligarh.

Materials and methods: This study was carried out from June 2019 to May 2021. Permissions were obtained from the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ) group for cross-cultural adaptation and translation of the Quality of Life Questionnaire-Oral Health15 (QLQ-OH15) and ethical clearance was secured from the Institutional Ethical Review Board at Aligarh Muslim University. Informed consent was provided by participating patients. The translation and cultural adaptation of the QLQ-OH15 followed an eight-phase procedure in compliance with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire translation manual, ensuring consistency. Psychometric properties were evaluated using the Statistical Program for the Social Sciences 20, assessing content validity, convergent and discriminant validity, criterion validity, construct validity, reliability and test-retest reproducibility.

Results: The content validity ratio exceeded 0.75, with Cronbach's alpha values above 0.70 for each scale, confirming reliability. Factor analysis identified five factors: 'Pain and discomfort,' 'Information,' 'Soreness,' 'Denture' and 'Xerostomia.' Every item in every scale had its item convergent validity validated; all values were over 0.4 and there were no scaling mistakes observed. All of the items' correlation coefficients for the other scales were lower than their scales, indicating discriminant validity. There were statistically significant associations between Hindi EORTC QLQ-OH15 scores and three proxy measures: Perceived oral health (P = 0.000), perceived satisfaction with the mouth (P = 0.000) and perceived dental treatment need (P = 0.001).

Conclusion: The Hindi version of the QLQ-OH15 is a valid and reliable tool for assessing oral health-related quality of life in Indian cancer patients. This adaptation facilitates better symptom management and improved QoL in this population, emphasising the importance of oral health in comprehensive cancer care.

Keywords: Cancer; Oral health quality of life; Quality of life questionnaire oral health15; Validation.