[Cross-cultural adaptation to Spanish of the Vécu et Santé Perçue de l'Adolescent (VSP-A):: a generic measure of the quality of life of adolescents].
BACKGROUND
Different measures of health related quality of life for use exclusively in children and adolescents have been developed over the last ten years. However, few instruments of this type have been adapted in Spain. The VSP-A is a generic health related quality of life measure for adolescents aged 11-17 developed in France. The objective of this study was to adapt the VSP-A into Spanish as a first step towards obtaining this questionnaire.


METHODS
The version of the VSP-A including 39 questions was adapted following the forward-backward translation methodology, including two translations into Spanish, scoring of difficulty (0 min-10 max.) and classification of semantic and conceptual equivalence, two panel discussions with adolescents, as well as meetings of consensus with the original authors. Finally, a backward translation (translation back into the original language) was carried out into French, and the final pre-test version was administered in a pilot test.


RESULTS
Most of the questions were classified as equivalent (24/39). Following the meetings with adolescents, changes were made in some questions. After the back-translation into French, three questions required some minor changes.


CONCLUSIONS
The Spanish version of the VSP-A seems to be semantically and culturally equivalent to the original version and suitable for adolescents in Spain. The inclusion of easy statements in the original version, the comments of the adolescents and the involvement in the adaptation process of the original authors has offered the possibility of achieving a suitable pre-test version. The next phase of the study will involve the questionnaire's reliability and validity testing. The VSP-A is expected to be useful for measuring the health-related quality of life in health surveys or as a screening tool in schools and primary care centers in Spain.
Serra-Sutton
Vicky
V
Agència d'Avaluació de Tecnologia i Recerca Mèdiques, Trav de les Corts 131-159 Pavelló Ave Maria, 08028 Barcelona.
Herdman
Michael
M
Rajmil
Luis
L
Santed
Rosalía
R
Ferrer
Montse
M
Siméoni
Marie Claude
MC
Auquier
Pascal
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations