Cross‐cultural translation and adaptation of the Readiness for Return To Work questionnaire for Dutch cancer survivors

Abstract

Objective Effective interventions supporting cancer survivors in work participation are lacking, possibly due to the poor fit between interventions and cancer survivors’ needs. The ‘Readiness for Return To Work’ (RRTW) questionnaire could facilitate intervention development tailored to cancer survivors’ needs. We performed a cross‐cultural translation and adaptation of this questionnaire into Dutch and pre‐tested its psychometric properties among cancer survivors. Methods Questionnaire translation and adaptation were conducted using a systematic approach of: forward translation, synthesis, backward translation, consolidation of translations with an expert committee, and pre‐testing. Pre‐testing consisted of interviewing 40 cancer survivors, who completed the questionnaire. Results The translated and adapted RRTW questionnaire showed reasonable psychometric properties, that is high item‐to‐stage correlations and internal consistency for all RRTW stages, except for the prepared for action – self‐evaluative stage. Conclusions The translated and adapted RRTW questionnaire may be useful for tailoring interventions to support cancer survivors in returning to and maintaining at work. However, some items showed poor psychometric properties and several factors, important for work participation, are not captured, for example personal, disease‐, treatment‐ and/or work‐related characteristics. We recommend to further test the RRTW questionnaire and to use it in combination with additional measurement instruments when developing tailored work participation interventions.

Tailoring work participation support for cancer survivors using the stages of change: perspectives of (health care) professionals and survivors

“…A.Z., S.D., and P.C. have experience in conducting qualitative research [22,26]. Interviews were semi-structured and followed an interview guide, which was constructed based on suggestions of prior research [11,17,18,[27][28][29][30][31] and was organized along the behavioral change stages [21,22] (Supplementary File 2).…”

“…The readiness for return to work (RRTW) scale [21] measures the TTM's stages of change in the context of work resumption and work retention. Originally developed for lost-time claimants 1 with musculoskeletal disorders, the RRTW scale has been translated into Dutch and adapted for CSs [22]. The adapted scale indexes information related to six behavioral change stages that CSs may go through in the RTW and work retention process: pre-contemplation (not thinking about work resumption), contemplation (starting to think about work resumption), preparation self-evaluative (starting to conceptualize and prepare for RTW), preparation behavioral (planning RTW and actually going back to work), uncertain maintenance (being back at work but feeling uncertain about being able to retain work), and proactive maintenance (being back at work and feeling able to retain work) [21].…”

“…By identifying CSs' behavioral change stages related to RTW, interventions to support work participation are assumed to be better able to tap into CSs' stage-specific circumstances and support needs [18,19]. In the current study, we qualitatively explored the application of the stages of change [20], using RRTW stage terminology [21,22] (hereafter "behavioral change stages"), to work participation support for CSs. We conducted this exploration through interviews with various (health care) professionals (hereafter: experts) and focus groups with CSs.…”

Supporting participation in paid work of cancer survivors and their partners in the Netherlands: protocol of the SusTained Employability in cancer Patients and their partnerS (STEPS) multi-centre randomized controlled trial and cohort study

“…During the STEPS intervention, the cancer survivors’ behavioural change stage will be monitored continuously and the intervention will be tailored to the specific stage the survivor is in. To do so, cancer survivors will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire (i.e., a Dutch version [ 25 ] of the Readiness for Return To Work - RRTW [ 15 ]) and an abbreviated version of the Return to Work Obstacles and Self-Efficacy Scale - ROSES [ 26 ]) prior to each session with the occupational therapist. Based on the outcomes of the RRTW questionnaire, participants will be categorised according to one of the six stages of change (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation: self-evaluative, preparation: behavioural, uncertain and proactive maintenance).…”

“… Employment status Asking participants whether they are at work or not at work 1 n/a Dichotomous Time to return to work Asking participants about their first day of returning to work, from which we will estimate the number of calendar days between the first day of sick leave and the first day of work, either fulltime or part-time, for at least 28 consecutive days without recurrence. 1 n/a Continuous Sick leave Asking participants about the number of days they have been on sick leave in the past 6 months 1 n/a Continuous Readiness for return to work The translated and adapted Dutch version [ 25 ] of the original RRTW questionnaire [ 15 ]. There are a number of items for each of the phases, with each item being scored on a 1 to 5 scale.…”