title: International versions of the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Symptom scales for aging women have clinically been used for years and the interest in measuring health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has increased in recent years. The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) is a formally validated scale according to the requirements for quality of life instruments. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of the instrument particularly concerning versions of the scale in different languages.
  The translations were performed following international methodological recommendations for the linguistic & cultural adaptation of HRQoL instruments. The first translation was done from the German original scale into English (UK & USA). The English version was used as the source language for the translations into French, Spanish, Swedish, Mexican/Argentine, Brazilian, Turkish, and Indonesian languages (attached as additional PDF files).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MRS scale is obviously a valuable tool for assessing health related quality of life of women in the menopausal transition and is used worldwide. The currently available 9 language versions have been translated following international standards for the linguistic and cultural translation of quality of life scales. Assistance is offered to help interested parties in the translation process.
authors.affiliation: ZEG - Center for Epidemiology & Health Research Berlin, Invalidenstr, 115, 10115 Berlin, Germany. heinemann@zeg-berlin.de
authors.forename: Lothar A J
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Heinemann
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Potthoff
authors.forename: Hermann P G
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D007802:Language; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations