STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology

Purpose: The main purpose is to produce a French-Canadian translation of the "STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology" (STROBE) Statement under the proposed name of "outil STROBE" and to assess the cross-cultural validity of its content. The secondary purpose is to examine its preliminary interrater reliability. Method: A modified approach to Vallerand's cross-cultural validation methodology was used. First, professional translators and clinical practitioners produced a parallel reverse translation of the "STROBE Statement." Then, a committee of experts (P1) examined the translated versions and created a first experimental draft of the "outil STROBE." This draft was assessed and modified by a second committee of experts (P2). Finally, 32 future professionals doing their master's degree in physiotherapy and occupational therapy assessed this second experimental version of the tool using an ambiguity scale of 8 points (0 meaning "not at all ambiguous" and 7 meaning "extremely ambiguous"). The main co-researchers examined the problematic elements and proposed final modifications. Ten observational studies published in French after 1980 were assessed by two independent raters using the French-Canadian version of the "outil STROBE." The kappa coefficient was used to examine interrater reliability. Results: For the different elements of the final version of the "outil STROBE," the averages on the ambiguity scale varied from 0.0 to 2.4. No element received an average below 2.4, which showed a high level of clarity. The interrater reliability (n = 2) for the "outil STROBE" is thought to be good for 74% of individual elements, according to the kappa coefficient values obtained. Conclusions: The process's five rigorous steps enabled the production of a valid French-Canadian version of the "STROBE Statement."