Validity and Reliability of Thai Translation of the Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile

Abstract

Dyspnea is a common symptom of various organ abnormalities. The Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile (MDP) correctly assesses the characteristics and emotions/feelings of dyspnea. However, no Thai language version is available. The objectives of this study were to translate the MDP into Thai and assess its validity and reliability. The MDP was translated into Thai and culturally modified according to standard guidelines. Thai dyspneic patients ≥18 years old at the Outpatient Department of Medicine, Thammasat University Hospital, from June to August 2020, were recruited for a cross-sectional, longitudinal study for cognitive interview of translation and assessment of content/convergent validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability (1st visit, 1-3 hours and 1-4 weeks later). MDP-Thai had perfect content validity (Index of Item-Objective Congruence of 1.00 for all items) in all patients. The patient population was made up of 35 patients, 17 males (48.6%) and 18 females (51.4%), with a mean age±SD of 64.6±14.6 years. Dyspnea was moderate, persistent, mostly presented as air hunger, and occurred with exertion. Most were respiratory patients. Convergent validity was shown by correlation between MDP-Thai A1 and modified Medical Research Council scale, Thai version (r(95%CI) of 0.46 (0.02-0.91), p=0.043; and 0.54 (0.07-1.02), p=0.026 for univariable and multivariable linear regression analyses). MDPThai had high and moderate internal consistency for items of dyspneic characteristics and emotion (Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.83-0.88 and 0.64-0.74). Test-retest reliability across three MDP interviews, ranged from marginally moderate to good for dyspneic characters/intensities and emotions/feelings (Intraclass Correlation Coefficients of 0.43–0.73, p<0.001 and 0.46-0.89, p<0.001). In conclusion, MDP-Thai has excellent content validity, existing convergent validity, fair to good internal consistency, and moderate test-retest reliability.