Translation and Validation of the Comprehensive Score of Financial Toxicity for Cancer Patients Into Arabic

Abstract

Background and PurposeWe aimed to translate the Comprehensive Score of Financial Toxicity (COST) questionnaire into Arabic and to evaluate its reliability and validity.MethodsWe applied the four-step translation method and conducted a pilot validation study over 179 medical oncology patients. Reliability was tested using the Cronbach alpha coefficient and test–retest stability. Validity was tested using the correlation with Functional assessment of Cancer Therapy-General score (FACT-G), factorial analysis and the content validity index.ResultsQuestionnaire showed high internal consistency and test retest reliability; Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.77 and Pearson stability coefficient was 0.8. Convergent validity evaluation showed a statistically significant moderate correlation with the FACT-G (r = .42, p = .047). Content validly index was 0.93.ConclusionsThe Arabic version of COST questionnaire, was a valid and reliable tool that could be used in clinical practice by healthcare providers to evaluate financial toxicity in Arab speaking cancer patients.

Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity and Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Cancer and Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Interestingly, our included studies showed that the correlation strengths between financial toxicity and overall HRQOL were slightly stronger in studies that used English instruments (median = 0.53, range = 0.33-0.73) 57,58,60,62,64,66,73,81 than those in other languages, for example, Mandarin Chinese, Italian, and Arabic (median = 0.43, range = 0.34-0.52), 51,55,67,72,79,80 and conducted in countries with universal health coverage (median = 0.49, range = 0.34-0.73) 55,58,66,72,79,80 than those without (median = 0.42, range = 0.33-0.63). 51,57,60,62,64,67,73,81 Nevertheless, we had inadequate number of studies to further examine (eg, performing subgroup analysis) the potential impact of instrument language or universal health coverage on the association between financial toxicity and HRQOL. 46 Exploring the role of universal health coverage and mitigation strategies in alleviating financial toxicity and improving HRQOL may be an important future research direction.…”