Development of a Korean version of the urinary tract infection symptoms assessment questionnaire

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to translate the Urinary Tract Infection Symptoms Assessment (UTISA) questionnaire, which assesses the severity and nuisance of symptoms and signs of uncomplicated urinary tract infection, into Korean with subsequent linguistic validation for clinical use and research. Materials and Methods: This self-administered questionnaire is composed of 14 items that cover the 7 most frequent symptoms and signs. After acquiring permission for use of the questionnaire in Korea from Bayer Health Care Pharmaceuticals Global Health Economics and Outcome Research, 2 bilingual linguists individually translated the original English version of the UTISA questionnaire into Korean, and the translations were then reconciled by the linguists and the authors. A preliminary Korean version was translated back into English and reconciled by another bilingual linguist to confirm proper forward translation of the UTISA questionnaire, and then a complete Korean version of the UTISA questionnaire was finished. Ten women with acute cystitis completed the Korean UTISA questionnaire and were then interviewed to confirm the final Korean version through cognitive debriefing. Results: Linguistic validation of the Korean version of the UTISA questionnaire was completed through forward translation and reconciliation, back-translation and reconciliation, cognitive debriefing, and finally, proof-reading of the questionnaire as a instrument for assessing symptoms and signs of uncomplicated urinary tract infection. Conclusions: The UTISA questionnaire was translated into a Korean, and the translation was validated linguistically. Psychometric validation will be needed in a large set of patients with uncomplicated urinary tract infection. © The Korean Urological Association, 2009.