Translation and validation of the Chinese version of Brace Questionnaire (BrQ)

Abstract

Background: The Brace Questionnaire (BrQ) is a tool developed to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) who receiving bracing as the primary treatment. It was initially developed and validated in Greek. The current study aimed to culturally adapt and psychometrically validate the BrQ in contemporary Chinese used in mainland China. Methods: Translation of the BrQ from the original Greek into Chinese was performed. This study involved 70 Chinese adolescents between 10 and 18 years of age with a diagnosis of AIS and a Cobb angle measuring between 20 and 40 degrees. All patients received the same kind of brace for more than 4 months. Statistical analyses included internal consistency and the floor and ceiling effects of the BrQ. Subsequently, convergent validity was evaluated by correlating the measures in the BrQ with those in the Scoliosis Research Society-22 Questionnaire (SRS-22). Results: There were no floor and ceiling effects observed with the Chinese version of BrQ. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.967. Internal consistency as measured by Cronbach's alpha was 0.923. The global BrQ score correlated strongly with the SRS-22 total score (r=0.743, P<0.001). Most domain-level sub-scores from the BrQ correlated with the respective domain scores of SRS-22. Conclusions: Cross-cultural translation and validation demonstrated excellent reliability, high internal consistency and satisfactory concurrent validity of the Chinese version of BrQ.

The ISJ 3D Brace, a Providence Brace Evolution, as a Surgery Prevention Method in Idiopathic Scoliosis

“…The results obtained in the study by Bonilla et al, showed that the different evaluation instruments designed to evaluate the quality of life of patients with idiopathic scoliosis, such as the SRS-22r and CAVIDRA, present adequate psychometric properties with regard to the domain of perceived self-image [50]. However, according to the studies carried out by Rezaei et al or Liu et al other assessment instruments such as the Bad Sobernheim stress questionnaire (BSSQ) or the Braces Questionnaire (BrQ), are more specific for measuring the quality of life of patients with brace treatment in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, present adequate reliability and validation psychometric properties and are excellent tools to measure this aspect [51,52].…”

Comparison of the efficacy of thoracolumbosacral and lumbosacral orthosis for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in patients with major thoracolumbar or lumbar curves: a prospective controlled study

“…A minor curve was considered structural if the Cobb magnitude was ≥80% of the magnitude of the primary curve ( 23 ). The Brace Questionnaire (BrQ) that explicitly evaluates the health-related quality of life of patients with AIS undergoing brace treatment was investigated for all patients in this study during follow-up ( 24 , 25 ). The treatment outcome was defined based on the evolution of the main curve or the minor curve as follows: (1) improve (>5° reduction in the curve magnitude); (2) stabilize (≤5° change in the curve magnitude); and (3) progress (>5° increase in the curve magnitude).…”

Validity and reliability of the adapted Dutch version of the Brace Questionnaire (BrQ)

“…After obtaining informed consent, included patients received a link to 2 questionnaires by email: (1) the final adapted Dutch version of the BrQ, and (2) the Dutch version of the SRS-22r for comparison and concurrent validity [ 6 ]. The SRS-22r questionnaire has previously been successfully translated into Dutch and validated and was used in previous BrQ validation studies in other languages as a scoliosis-specific quality-of-life questionnaire [ 8 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 15 ]. Both questionnaires were sent twice to investigate the test–retest reliability.…”

“…First, the number of patients included in this study (80 patients) was considered large enough for the validity and reliability assessment, as in previous studies [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], but not large enough to test the discriminative ability of the BrQ. To explore the discriminative ability, it might be better to use the BrQ at biannual time intervals during the whole bracing period in multi-center, long-term longitudinal follow-up studies, instead of adding more patients, as the impact of brace wear for the individual AIS patient can change over time.…”

“…Therefore, the Brace Questionnaire (BrQ) was developed as a new instrument for measuring HRQOL of scoliosis patients undergoing brace treatment [7]. The original Greek BrQ has previously been translated into different languages and validated but has not yet been translated into the Dutch language [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Therefore, this study will evaluate the validity and reliability of a translated and culturally adapted Dutch version of the BrQ.…”