TRANSCULTURAL ADAPTATION AND VALIDATION OF THE UKRAINIAN VERSION OF THE SPECIALIZED PHLEBOLOGICAL QUESTIONNAIRE FOR QUALITY OF LIFE ASSESSMENT
Authors: Atamaniuk O. Yu. , Skrypko V. D. , Atamaniuk V. M. , Trombola O. V. 
Published: April 2022

Today, quality of life assessment is an informative, reliable and economical method of studying health, both at the individual and group levels, and is an important integral indicator of the severity and dynamics of the pathological process in different nosologies. The most convenient way to measure the quality of life is to use questionnaires, which are divided into general, used for all diseases, and specialized, used for a particular nosological unit. Proper construction of quality of life questionnaires is extremely important for obtaining objective information, and in the case of using foreign language versions, it is necessary not only to make a correct translation, but also to follow the procedure of transcultural adaptation and validation. A number of general quality of life questionnaires (SF-36, Euro-Quality of Life 5D-5L) have Ukrainian versions and have been adapted and validated in accordance with international requirements. As for specialized phlebological questionnaires for quality of life assessment, after analyzing the available information resources, we did not find any description of the process of transcultural adaptation and validation of questionnaires for patients with varicose veins of the lower extremities in Ukrainian language, which became the basis of our work, during which, in accordance with the recommendations of the WHO and the Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research, the process of transcultural adaptation of the specialized phlebological questionnaire for quality of life assessment, Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire, was conducted. The validity of the adapted Ukrainian version of the questionnaire was determined using various methods: by analyzing the internal stability (Cronbach's coefficient), which according to the study is 0.76, which is comparable to the original version of the questionnaire and shows the internal consistency of the questionnaire. The next tool used to determine the validity of questionnaire questions is the "test-retest" method: conducting two tests with an interval of 14 days. According to the results of this method, a strong direct relationship with the overall Spearman coefficient = 0.965 (p <0.01) prevailed, which indicates a reliable repeatability of the test. The result of the Lawshe validation assessment aimed at the involvement of specialized experts and confirmed the importance of all 13 questions of the questionnaire for assessing the quality of life in patients with varicose veins of the lower extremities. Based on the study, the following conclusions were made: the Ukrainian language version of the AVVQ phlebological questionnaire, performed in accordance with international standards of language and cultural adaptation is an effective tool for assessing quality of life in patients with varicose veins of the lower extremities. The total quality of life assessment significantly complements the characteristics of the pathological process in patients with varicose veins of the lower extremities, its dynamics under the influence of various treatment measures, provides valuable information about the patient's response to the disease and treatment. The Ukrainian-language version of AVVQ can be used as a guide to record changes in the quality of life of people with varicose veins of the lower extremities and used in the future as an independent, no less important indicator than the usual clinical and sonographic criteria.