Spanish translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the SarQoL®: a specific health-related quality of life questionnaire for sarcopenia

Abstract

Background In 2015, a specific health-related quality of life questionnaire for sarcopenia, SarQoL®, was developed and validated in French. Since then, SarQoL® has been adapted and validated in different languages. We prepared a translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the psychometric properties of the SarQoL® into Spanish. Methods A cross-sectional study with 86 participants. The translation and adaptation followed international guidelines with two direct translations, a synthesized version of the direct translations, two reverse translations, consensus by an expert committee of a pre-final version, pre-test by end users and final version. The discriminative power (logistic regression analyses), construct validity (Pearson and Spearman´s correlation), internal consistency (Cronbach´s alpha coefficient), test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient) and ceiling and floor effects were analyzed. Results The Spanish version showed good construct validity (high correlation with comparable domains of the SF-36), high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient: 0.84) and excellent test–retest reliability (ICC: 0.967, 95%, CI 0.917 – 0.989). However, it had no discriminative power between sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic participants defined with the EWGSOP and FNIH diagnostic criteria of sarcopenia. It did show discriminative power between patients with decreased vs normal muscle strength (54.9 vs. 62.6, p 0.009) and low vs. normal physical performance (57.3 vs. 70.2; p 0.005). No ceiling or floor effect was found. Conclusions The Spanish version of SarQoL® has similar psychometric properties to those of the original version of the instrument. It did not discriminate between sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic patients diagnosed according to the EWGSOP or FNIH criteria, but it did with those with low muscle strength and low physical performance.

SarQoL Questionnaire in Community-Dwelling Older Adults under EWGSOP2 Sarcopenia Diagnosis Algorithm: A New Screening Method?

“…To assess participants’ quality of life, the Spanish translated version of the SarQoL questionnaire [ 27 ] was used, offered by developers. All the questions asked in this questionnaire, except 7, 14 and 22, use a Likert scale of frequency or intensity; in turn, these questions are categorized into seven domains that assess different dimensions related to quality of life: physical and mental health (D1), locomotion (D2), body composition (D3), functionality (D4), activities of daily living (D5), leisure activities (D6) and fears (D7).…”

“…The normality of the data was evaluated using the Shapiro–Wilk’s test. Descriptive statistics were calculated for sociodemographic variables (percentages or mean ± SD), results of the SarQoL questionnaire [ 27 ] and its domains (mean ± SD) and for the different variables related to physical performance, as well as the diagnosis of the sarcopenia (mean ± SD). The differences between groups with and without sarcopenic disease were determined using the Student’s t test and Mann–Whitney U test, establishing significant differences with p values ≤ 0.05 in all tests.…”

“…The differences between groups with and without sarcopenic disease were determined using the Student’s t test and Mann–Whitney U test, establishing significant differences with p values ≤ 0.05 in all tests. The Spearman correlation model was used to evaluate the relationships between the different variables that make up the diagnosis of sarcopenia and the results obtained in the SarQoL questionnaire [ 27 ] and in its domains. Variables that showed significant differences were evaluated in a later step using a multiple linear regression model in order to observe their influence on the score obtained for each of the domains and on the total score of the SarQoL questionnaire [ 27 ].…”

“…Complications derived from sarcopenia are related, mainly, with mobility deterioration from patients as well as with a frailty increase, malnutrition, a progressive loss of autonomy and, globally, a decrease in perceived quality of life [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. With the aim of evaluating quality of life and its relationship with muscle mass, in 2016, the SarQoL questionnaire [ 25 ] (Sarcopenia Quality of Life) was developed, which was validated for the Spanish population in 2020 [ 26 , 27 ].…”

“…This study aim was to evaluate possible differences in terms of quality of life quantified by the SarQoL questionnaire [ 27 ] in community-dwelling men and women depending on the presence of sarcopenic disease. Secondarily, researchers started from the hypothesis of the existence of a possible discriminatory capacity of sarcopenic pathology through the SarQoL total score [ 27 ] or any of its domains, and whether it can be used as an additional screening tool along with the SARC-F questionnaire [ 28 ] proposed by EWGSOP2 [ 1 ].…”