Cross‐cultural adaptation, translation, and validation of the Arabic version of the short form of Neurogenic Bladder Symptoms Score

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe Neurogenic Bladder Symptom Score—Short Form (NBSS‐SF) evaluates the impact of disease‐specific symptoms on the quality of life (QoL) in individuals with neurogenic bladder (NB). There is no data on the validity and reliability of the NBSS‐SF questionnaire in the Arabic language, so this study aimed at providing the translation, cultural adaptation, and validation of the Arabic NBSS‐SF in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and spinal cord injury (SCI).MethodsThe original English language version of the NBSS‐SF was translated into Arabic according to the cultural and linguistic adaptation algorithm. People with SCI and MS completed the NBSS‐SF, demographic and clinical information, and Qualiveen QoL questionnaire. Responses were recorded twice within a 14‐day period. Psychometric properties such as content validity, construct validity, internal consistency, and test–retest reliability were tested. Internal consistency and test–retest reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), respectively. Construct validity was assessed by comparing the NBSS‐SF with the Qualiveen questionnaire.ResultsThirty‐nine patients with MS and 97 with SCI participated in the study. The internal consistency for the overall NBSS‐SF score (Cronbach's α of 0.82) and for each subdomain was variable (urinary incontinence 0.82; storage/voiding 0.73; consequences 0.53). ICC was 0.93 for the overall score and 0.96 for the urinary incontinence subdomain, 0.74 for storage/voiding, and 0.91 for consequences. The correlation analysis showed a significantly strong correlation between the QoL item of NBSS‐SF and the Qualiveen total score (r = 0.72, p < 0.000). There was a significant moderate positive correlation between the total scores on the Arabic version of the NBSS‐SF and the subdomains of the Qualiveen, including limitations (r = 0.51, p = 0.04), fears (r = 0.57, p = 0.04), feelings (r = 0.46, p = 0.01), and constraints (r = 0.59, p = 0.03).ConclusionsOur results showed that the Arabic version of NBSS‐SF is a valid and reliable instrument for evaluating neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction symptoms in the Arabic population suffering from SCI and MS.