Abstract
Background The Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation questionnaire (PRTEE) is a specific questionnaire
available for assessing the health status of patients with lateral epicondylitis.
An official German translation does not yet exist.
Objectives The aim of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the English version
of the PRTEE into German.
Material and Methods The translation and cross-cultural adaptation was completed by an expert committee
comprising people of varying professional and linguistic backgrounds. According to
international guidelines, the English original was first translated into German, then
back-translated and the final version was pre-tested on patients.
Results No major difficulties were encountered during the translation process and smaller
linguistic discrepancies could be resolved in the expert committee. For the pre-validation
testing, 11 patients with extensor repair due to persistent lateral epicondylitis
were included. They rated the questionnaire as easy to understand and complete. The
final version was approved by the developers of the original questionnaire as the
official German translation.
Conclusions Although the measurement properties of the German version were not evaluated in this
study, the original shows good reliability, validity and responsiveness. In summary,
the PRTEE is a questionnaire quick and easy to complete for patients with lateral
epicondylitis. Therefore, it is suitable for the clinical routine assessment of subjective
health status or the outcome after an intervention.
Key words
Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation questionnaire - lateral epicondylitis - tennis
elbow - patient-reported outcome measure - cross-cultural adaptation