title: Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of a Bengali Health Assessment Questionnaire for use in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To translate and adapt the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) into Bengali (B-HAQ) for use in Bangladeshi populations and to test its reliability and validity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
  
  
  METHODS
  The HAQ-DI was translated using rigorous forward-backward protocols and the translated version was subsequently cognitively pretested in a sample of 30 outpatients with RA. The pre-final version of the questionnaire was psychometrically tested for internal consistency and construct validity in a new sample of 100 consecutive RA outpatients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten questions were changed to suit the Bengali culture. Pretests showed that the items included in the B-HAQ were well understood by Bengali patients, while some of the original items were difficult to understand for a majority of patients. The resulting B-HAQ showed good internal consistency and construct validity in the psychometric validation study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that the B-HAQ is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring functional disability in a Bengali-speaking population with RA. Future studies should examine the test-retest reliability and responsiveness of the B-HAQ before it can be confidently recommended as an outcome measure in intervention studies.
authors.affiliation: Deptartment of Medicine, Dinajpur Medical College, Dinajpur, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Nazrul
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: Timir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baron Basak
authors.forename: Martijn A H
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: OudeVoshaar
authors.forename: Nira
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ferdous
authors.forename: Johannes J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Rasker
authors.forename: Syed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Atiqul Haq
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014175:Translating; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Health Assessment Questionnaire; cross-cultural translation; physical function; rheumatoid arthritis; validity