Evidence for Validity and Reliability of the Finnish Version of the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure

The aim of this study is to translate and adapt The Foot and Ankle Ability Measure tool (FAAM) in Finnish language and to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Finnish version of the Foot and ankle ability measure tool (FAAM-Fi).

This study is prospective. It is done by interviewing the patients to gather self-reported information of about their ability to perform different activities of daily living and sports. The study has no consequence to the patients, nor to the treatment aimed to solve the problem. This study includes cross-cultural adaptation of the FAAM to Finnish language and validation of the Finnish version of the FAAM.

The forward translation will be done with the method of used by the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) Outcomes Committee. Two native Finnish-speakers and fluent in English translators, T1 and T2, translate the original version of the FAAM to Finnish language. T1 is aware of the items being examined in in the questionnaire being translated, but not a healthcare professional. T2 is so called naïve translator. A synthesis of T1 and T2 versions, T-12, is conducted under the supervision of a medical linguistic methodologist. The T-12 version is translated back to English by two native, English as their mother tongue speaking translators BT1 and BT2, neither aware nor informed of the items explored nor with medical background.

An expert committee (the medical linguistic professional, the investigator as an orthopedic specialist and the translators) consolidate all the versions and consider the pre-final version of the questionnaire. The expert committee will be in close contact with developers.

The pre-final version is pre-tested with 40 persons with foot and ankle disorders. They will complete the questionnaire and will be interviewed about the meaning of the questions and the response in order to ensure that the adapted version is retaining its equivalence in an applied situation. Possible missing responses are looked for. The last step is submitting the final version, the FAAM-Fi and all the written reports to the committee keeping track of the translated version and the developers of the final version.