Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of revised WHO-ILAR-COPCORD core English questionnaire translated to Bangla.

Background: The Community-Oriented Program for Control of Rheumatic Diseases (COPCORD) is intended to reduce the information deficit about the epidemiology of rheumatic diseases, particularly in rural communities in high-income countries. Multiple studies have been conducted using the WHO-International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR)-COPCORD core questionnaire in Bangladesh using the translated version in the Bangla language. Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the questionnaire are important to achieve better outcomes.

Aim: To develop a culturally adapted, valid, and reliable Bangla version of the WHO-ILAR-COPCORD Core English Questionnaire to use as a rheumatic screening instrument among Bangla-speaking people.

Methods: The original English WHO-ILAR-COPCORD questionnaire was translated into Bangla and adapted in the local socio-cultural context maintaining idiomatic, semantic, experiential, and conceptual equivalence between the English and Bangla versions. Pretesting was carried out among 30 patients and healthy attendants, following standard international recommendations. Content validity of the adapted Bangla version was assessed by the item- and scale-level content validity indices (I-CVI and S-CVI). The adapted Bangla version of the WHO-ILAR-COPCORD questionnaire was used to assess 120 patients with rheumatic problems and healthy individuals. Test-retest reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients.

Results: The Bangla version of the WHO-ILAR-COPCORD questionnaire showed excellent content validity (I-CVI = 1, S-CVI = 1). The test-retest reliability was also acceptable (intraclass correlation coefficient > 0.7).

Conclusion: The adapted Bangla version of the WHO-ILAR-COPCORD questionnaire demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties, in terms of content validity and test-retest reliability, for evaluating rheumatic problems in Bangladeshi patients.