Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Hindi Version of EuroQol (EQ-5D-3L) Health Questionnaire in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain

Objective.The present study is an attempt to validate the Hindi version of the EuroQoL (EQ-5D-3L) questionnaire for patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP).Design.Prospective clinical study.Setting.The study was conducted on an outpatient basis with the subjects being followed via online platform on day 3.Subject.Native Indian patients above 18 years of age having CLBP who could speak and read Hindi were enrolled in the study.Methods.This study is a cross-sectional study on 132 patients presenting with CLBP. Hi-SF-36 was used as a reference scale. Pain was evaluated using the numeric rating scale. Psychometric properties including internal consistency, test-retest reliability on day 3 and convergent validity were evaluated. Confirmation factor analysis was carried out in order to establish the relationship between the five dimensions of Hi-EQ-5D-3L and the eight domains of Hi-SF-36.Results.The Cronbach alpha of 0.984 for index value and 0.944 for visual analog scale confirmed internal consistency of the Hi-EQ-5D. Intraclass correlation coefficient was found to be excellent for EQ index value (0.969, 95% CI: 0.954-0.979) and very good for visual analog scale (0.894, 95% CI: 0.844-0.928). Spearman rho correlation coefficients for the index value correlated strongly with all domains except role emotion (r=0.181 on day 0 and r=0.239 on day 3). A good relationship between Hi-SF-36 and Hi-EQ-5D-3L was confirmed through factor analysis.Conclusion.The Hindi version of the EQ-5D-3L demonstrated comprehensibility, reliability and proved to be a valid instrument for the evaluation of health-related quality of life in CLBP patients.