Cross-cultural Translation of Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) Into Local Languages of Pakistan

As in the original study the main purpose of the Oswestry Disability Index is explained as to assess pain-related disability in persons with low back pain (LBP). The target population for the Oswestry are 3: acute, subacute, and chronic back pain client groups; with various conservative, surgical, and behavioural intervention groups.

The Oswestry Disability Index is one of the principal condition-specific outcome measures used for the investigation of low back musculoskeletal disorders. It is a self-administered questionnaire and consists of ten sections that are designed to assess the limitations of various daily life activities.

Each section is scored on a 0-5 scale, 5 is for maximum disability. The index is calculated by dividing the total score by the total possible score, which is multiplied by 100 and expressed as a percentage. Thus, for every unanswered question, the denominator is reduced by 5. If a patient marks two or more statements in a question, the highest-scoring statement is recorded as a true indication of disability. The questionnaire takes 3.5-5 min to complete andapproximately1 min to score.

At present worldwide there are a lot of health care workers who are using the Oswestry Disability Index for low back pain assessment and this scale is also providing good measurement but this scale is in the English language and there are a lot of people here in Pakistan who don't understand English. Pakistan is a country with different languages and cultures. The most commonly spoken and understood languages in Pakistan are Urdu the national language of Pakistan, Pashto, Punjabi, Sindhi, and Balochi. Therefore it is highly needed to translate this questioner into different languages so that the patient would be able to answer them easily according to their understanding. The validity and reliability of the translated versions will also be checked.

The translation and cultural adaptation processes would start after obtaining approval from the developer of the original Oswestry Disability Index scale. This would be done according to WHO guidelines. Translation will be done by symmetrical category. The purpose will be to gain uniformity in the translation of tool in both the Target language and Source language. This will involve 5 steps. (Forward translation, synthesis 1, Back translation, synthesis 2 and pilot testing.) Phase 2 would be done according to the standard guidelines in which psychometric properties will be measured.