Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: The Swedish translation and cross -cultural adaptation of the Fu nctional Assessment of 
Chronic Illness Therapy - Cervical Dysplasia (FACIT -CD): linguistic validity and reliability of 
the Swedish version  
 
Version: 0 Date: 17 Jan 2017  
 
Reviewer: Ahmed Hefnawy  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
This manuscript summarizes a prospective study to evaluate the validity and reliability of the 
Swedish translation of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy -Cervical Dysplasia 
(FACIT -CD) in terms of translations and cross -cultural adaptation in 34 patients with cervical 
dysplasia in Sweden. The authors concluded that the Swedish (FACIT -CD) expressed good 
internal consistency reliability and it is equivalent to the English version.  
The topic of investigating women's health related quality of life assessment is of importance to 
the BMC Women's Health readership. The authors should be commended for introducing  a 
specific quality of life instrument for cervical dysplasia into the Swedish population.  
 
Specific comments:  
Page 1, lines (8 -10): the authors state according to reference number 2 (Bosch FX, Lorincz A, 
Munoz N, et al. The causal relation between human p apillomavirus and cervical cancer. Journal 
of clinical pathology. 2002; 55: 244 -65) that HPV is responsible for 99% of cervical cancer 
cases. I looked up the reference and the closest sentence to your statement is in page 250 under 
headline (Specificity) a nd it states (About 15 HPV types are involved in over 95% of the cervical 
cancer types). I hope the authors can either state where they got their information from the 
reference or correct it using this sentence.  
Page 1, lines (18 -20): I wished the authors  had elaborated more in their introduction on the 
psycho -social results of getting the news of cervical dysplasia instead of just stating that it will 
cause anxiety and negatively affect their health related quality of life.  
Page 1, lines (38 -43): The Fun ctional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy -Cervical Dysplasia 
(FACIT -CD) should be referenced here instead of referencing it later on in the manuscript as 
reference number 18.  
Page 6, lines (3 -5): The authors conducted their study in a clinic in south -eastern Sweden. Is it a 
rural or urban district? And how can the authors advocate for generalizing their Swedish 
translation of the (FACIT -CD) to all Sweden?   
Page 6, lines (2 -27): How long was the period between the getting the result of cervical dyspla sia 
and participation in the study?  
Page 15, lines 8: The authors conclude that the Swedish FACIT -CD is valid. While validity 
refers to the degree to which a measurement tool can detect the actual value of a variable and 
often includes content, construct and criterion related validity, how did the authors conclude the 
validity of their study? Please comment in detail.  
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to t he authors.  
 
No 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Acceptable  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing in terests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an  
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this  
manuscript, either now or in t he future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way gain or lose  
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to th e content of the  
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds  or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do y ou have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below.  If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare that I have no competing interests  
 
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