We fully realise that our questionnaires have to be easy to understand for people all over the world. This is why linguistic and cultural issues are at the heart of EORTC questionnaire development from the outset of each project. Since all phases of the development of any new module are conducted simultaneously in a multi-cultural setting involving patients who speak different languages and live in different regions of the world, we make sure that they undergo a translatability assessment and a strict translation procedure as described in the EORTC Translation Manual available here.
Translation process
The validated EORTC questionnaires are commonly used in academic and commercial studies all over the world, so first the required translations have to be developed. Again, we follow our translation procedure, which involves:
- Preparation of the files,
- Two forward translations into the target language,
- Reconciliation,
- Two back translations into English,
- Review of the translation report including all these steps by the EORTC Translation Team,
- Proofreading by an independent linguist,
- Pilot-testing on 10 patients,
- Review of the pilot-testing report by the EORTC Translation Team,
- Finalisation of the translation.
For languages spoken and written in different variants depending on the country, we follow a cultural adaptation process that includes:
- In-country review of the existing language version,
- Review of the comments and suggested changes,
- Proofreading by an independent linguist,
- Pilot-testing on 10 patients,
- Review of the pilot-testing report by the EORTC Translation Team,
- Finalisation of the translation.
All translation projects are coordinated by the EORTC Translation Team. If you are interested in developing a new language version, please contact us.