A good practice guide for translating and adapting hearing-related questionnaires for use in different languages and cultures: Preferred reporting items with explanations and examples

Objective To raise awareness and propose a good practice guide for translating and adapting any questionnaire to be used for comparisons across populations divided by language or culture.Design Relevant methodological literature across ENT/Audiology and other healthcare fields was reviewed. The collective experience from the authors, members of the International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology and TINNET were also incorporated in this recommendation.Results Criteria for selecting an appropriate questionnaire were considered, followed by a set of guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation. Six steps promote a good-quality translation that is functionally equivalent to the original questionnaire and account for any cultural differences: 1) Preparation for translating a questionnaire, 2) The translation process – forward translation, 3) The translation process – back translation, 4) Committee review, 5) Field testing, and 6) Review and finalisation of the translation. Published examples illustrate how these steps have been implemented and reported. Conclusions Following this step-by-step guide can improve functional equivalence with the target-language version and promote quality assurance in multinational trials and outcome evaluations. A checklist of the preferred reporting items is included to help investigators make informed choices about conducting or omitting any items. We recommend using the checklist to document these decisions in any resulting publication.