Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Thyroid disorders have significant impact on patients’ quality of life (QoL). ThyPRO is a thyroid-specific QoL questionnaire applicable to patients with benign thyroid disorders. There is substantial evidence for its clinical validity and reliability in patients with benign thyroid disorders. ThyPRO consists of 85 questions summarized in 13 scales, measuring aspects of QoL relevant to thyroid patients. Our aim was to develop a validated Polish version of this questionnaire (ThyPROpl).

Methods: ThyPROpl was translated and validated according to standard methodology for translation of patient-reported outcomes (PRO). Firstly, two independent translations from English to Polish were performed by two translators native in Polish and a consensus version was reached, in collaboration with an in-country consultant. A third translator prepared a back–translation from Polish to English, which likewise was reviewed by the in-country consultant. The backwards translation was compared to the original English version by a PRO translation expert native in English (Health Research Associates HRA). If some discrepancies were found, the translation steps were repeated for those portions. The back-translated version was also reviewed by the developer of ThyPRO, who provided additional revisions. Finally, ThyPROpl was tested among five patients with thyroid disorders with cognitive interview techniques and new changes and clarifications needed for its full understanding were made.

Results: There was one major disagreement between the two translators during the forward translation step. During HRA evaluation 36 revisions were made by the in-country consultant and eight comments were provided by the developer. Based on patients’ comments, five revisions were performed and subsequently tested by the in-country consultant. After proof-reading by external consultant recruited by HRA and formatting, ThyPROpl was finally approved.

Conclusion: ThyPROpl is a validated version of original ThyPRO questionnaire. We recommend the ThyPROpl for the evaluation of QoL among Polish patients with benign thyroid disorders.