Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Patient-rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation to Canadian French

Abstract 

Introduction

No questionnaire is available to evaluate disability levels in French-speaking patients suffering from tennis elbow.

Purpose of the Study

To perform a cross-cultural adaptation of the English version of the Patient-rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE) into Canadian French.

Methods

The PRTEE was cross-culturally adapted to Canadian French according to well-established guidelines. Thirty-two patients with tennis elbow completed the prefinal version of the PRTEE. The construct validity, longitudinal validity, and responsiveness were assessed through comparisons with the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) measuring pain and the pain-free grip (PFG) at baseline, six weeks and three months. The internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha and the item-total correlations.

Results

The adaptation process resolved the discrepancy between the forward and back translation. The scores of PRTEE were adequately distributed without floor or ceiling effect. Item completion was good. The correlation between the PRTEE and the VAS was moderate to high (r=0.64–0.77) and statistically significant. There was also a low but significant correlation between the PRTEE and PFG (r=−0.38 to −0.48). For the longitudinal construct validity, the correlation with the VAS was moderate to high and statistically significant (r=0.68 and 0.88, p<0.01). The effect size (0.8; 1.0) and the standardized response mean (0.9; 1.0) were high and at least as good as the other outcomes. Internal consistency of the total score was high (Cronbach alpha=0.93) and item-total correlations were substantial for all items (0.58–0.85).

Conclusions

This study supports linguistic and conceptual equivalence of our Canadian French version. Because this version of the PRTEE demonstrated good acceptability, construct validity, internal consistency, and responsiveness, it may be used in both research and clinical setting.

Level of Evidence

N/A.