Validation of the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire in patients with COPD or asthma in Morocco.
METHODS
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are a public health problem in Morocco. Their evaluation should be supplemented by quality of life measurement, but there is no specific instrument available in local Moroccan Arabic.


OBJECTIVE
To validate a Moroccan Arabic version of the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) in patients with COPD or asthma in Morocco.


METHODS
After a rigorous translation process of the SGRQ into local Moroccan Arabic (SGRQm), the SGRQm, spirometry, Fletcher scale and a visual analogical scale (VAS) were administered to each patient at recruitment. Data were used to examine the construct validity and reliability of the SGRQm. To examine the test-retest reliability, patients completed the SGRQm a second time 10 days later.


RESULTS
A total of 131 patients with a mean age of 52 years were recruited into the study. Patients had a mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) of 1.70 1 and a mean VAS of 51.5 mm. Internal consistency of symptoms, activity and impact components was assessed using Cronbach's alpha (a) reliability coefficient; they were 0.94, 0.91 and 0.90, respectively. The test-retest reliability of components scores ranged from 0.70 to 0.87. The Fletcher scale correlated with all SGRQm scores, while the VAS had a similar correlation except with symptoms (P > 0.05). FEV1 values were negatively correlated with all SGRQm scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The SGRQm yielded satisfactory psychometric properties.
El Rhazi
K
K
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine of Fez, Fez, Morocco. elrhazi_karima@yahoo.fr
Nejjari
C
C
Benjelloun
M C
MC
Bourkadi
J
J
Afif
H
H
Serhier
Z
Z
Tachfouti
N
N
Berraho
M
M
Barberger-Gateau
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009018:Morocco / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*