title: Adaptation of the QoL-AGHDA scale for adults with growth hormone deficiency in four Slavic languages.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Quality of Life in Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency Assessment (QoL-AGHDA) is a disease-specific quality of life measure specific to individuals who are growth hormone deficient. The present study describes the adaptation of the QoL-AGHDA for use in the following four Slavic languages; Czech, Polish, Serbian and Slovakian.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved three stages in each language; translation, cognitive debriefing and validation. The validation stage assessed internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), reproducibility (test-retest reliability using Spearman's rank correlations), convergent and divergent validity (Correlations with the NHP) and known group validity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The QoL-AGHDA was successfully translated into the target languages with minimal problems. Cognitive debriefing interviewees (n = 15-18) found the measures easy to complete and identified few problems with the content. Internal consistency (Czech Republic = 0.91, Poland = 0.91, Serbia = 0.91 and Slovakia = 0.89) and reproducibility (Czech Republic = 0.91, Poland = 0.91, Serbia = 0.88 and Slovakia = 0.93) were good in all adaptations. Convergent and divergent validity and known group validity data were not available for Slovakia. The QoL-AGHDA correlated as expected with the NHP scales most relevant to GHD. The QoL-AGHDA was able to distinguish between participants based on a range of variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The QoL-AGHDA was successfully adapted for use in the Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia. Further validation of the Slovakian version would be beneficial. The addition of these new language versions will prove valuable to multinational clinical trials and to clinical practice in the respective countries.
authors.affiliation: Galen Research Ltd, Manchester, UK. SMcKenna@galen-research.com
authors.forename: Stephen P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: McKenna
authors.forename: Jeanette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilburn
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Twiss
authors.forename: Sigrid R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.forename: Václav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hána
authors.forename: Malgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karbownik-Lewinska
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Popovic
authors.forename: Mikulas
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pura
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koltowska-Häggström
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018153:Czech Republic; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055771:Serbia; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D018154:Slovakia; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations
chemical_list: D019382:Human Growth Hormone