Italian version of the M.D. Anderson Symptoms Inventory Head and Nech Module: Linguistic validation

Background and Aims: Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients can experience symptoms due to the tumor itself or to the treatment and this experience may decrease their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The construct of HRQoL, progressively accepted as an important outcome parameter, is used, along with others, in medical research to support clinical decisions. HRQoL applicability and cultural adaptation must be tested for each population. Aim of this study is to linguistically validate the Italian translation of the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory – Head and Neck Module (MDASI-HN). Methods: Following forward and backward translation of the items of the English MDASI-HN into Italian, it was administered along with a cognitive debriefing to HNC patients able to read and understand Italian language. Individual and group responses are presented using descriptive statistics. Results: From May 2013 through September 2013 56 patients with HNC answered to the MDASI-HN followed bycompletion of the accompanying cognitive debriefing. Ninety-nine percent of the individual MDASI-HN items were completed. Average time to complete the MDASI-HN was 8.5 min (range 3–15). Results suggested overall ease of completion, relevance, and comprehensibleness of this translated self-report instrument in this Italian patient population. Conclusions: The Italian version of the MDASI-HN is linguistically valid; future research should explore dimensionality, reliability, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of this patient-reported instrument, in order to use the scale properly in outcomes research and in clinical setting.