Cross-cultural validation of the Retinopathy Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire status version (RetTSQs) in Serbian community: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectiveCross-cultural translation and validation of the Serbian version of the Retinopathy Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire status version (RetTSQs).DesignCross-sectional study.SettingsThe study was conducted between June 2017 and June 2018 at tertiary care centre in Serbia, Belgrade.ParticipantsA total of 101 patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) were included. All subjects were evaluated in two consecutive visits, the first during the initial contact to the clinic, while the second 4–6 weeks later.Main outcome measuresValidation of Serbian version of the RetTSQs was the major outcome.ResultsCronbach alpha coefficient of the subscales ranged from 0.783 (positive scale) to 0.811 (negative scale) and for all domains it was excellent at α=0.829. The intraclass correlation coefficient was greater than 0.8 for all of the subscales. Univariable analyses revealed that age, gender, education, marital status and working status did not affect the RetTSQ scores, whereas participants with non-proliferative DR reported significantly higher treatment satisfaction (TS) than those with proliferative retinopathy (p=0.001). The group who received laser treatment scored significantly lower than the group without it (p=0.004) regardless of type of performed laser. Positive and statistically significant correlations were found between the RetTSQ score and most of the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 subscales.ConclusionTranslated Serbian adaptation of the RetTSQs showed adequate psychometric characteristics as an acceptable, reliable and valid questionnaire. It was well understood by Serbian diabetic patients and it promises to be used in daily clinical work as an instrument for the assessment of TS for patients with DR.

Vision-Related Quality of Life and Treatment Satisfaction Following Panretinal Photocoagulation in Diabetic Retinopathy—A Panel Study

“…Regarding the total RetTSQ score, our study did not show any difference in treatment satisfaction between pre-and post-PRP groups. Literature review shows significantly lower RetTSQ scores in previously performed laser treatments for DR compared to their counterparts [2,17], regardless of type of performed laser. Sub-scale analysis prior to and following laser photocoagulation showed a statistically significant change in five of the 13 items of RetTSQ: overall satisfaction with current treatment, discomfort/pain, unpleasantness of treatment, patient influence on the treatment and received information about the treatment.…”

“…On the other hand, there is no comparable data from other studies that used the RetTSQ as we did, in patients with PDR treated with PRP. The fact that the RetTSQ has previously been employed in only a few studies [17,20] and has not been rigorously tested in more researches represents one of the main limitations of our study [25]. Further testing of RetTSQ is required to establish the usefulness of RetTSQ to measure patient satisfaction of different treatments.…”

“…The National Eye Institute 25-Item Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) is one of the most widely used tools in health service researches, along with the Retinopathy Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (RetTSQ) that had been already translated and validated into Serbian language at the time of our study [16,17]. It consists of 25 visiontargeted questions plus an additional general health-rating question.…”

“…This enables respondents to express satisfaction with a treatment even if it is time consuming as well as being possible to express dissatisfaction. This 'time taken' wording is the same as that which is used in the MacTSQ for macular disease and there the item loads on the positive subscale that Karadzic et al [17] found in their working with RetTSQ. This makes sense when we realize that the version of RetTSQ is not the original with a "time-consuming" item, but rather is the revision with the "time-taken" item.…”