Vet Comp Orthop Traumatol
DOI: 10.1055/a-2543-7681
Original Research

Linguistic Validation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs Instrument for the German- and Spanish-Speaking Populations

Heidi Radke
1   Department of Small Animal Surgery, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
,
Natalia Andrea Reyes Rodriguez
2   Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales U.C.D.A., Bogotá, Colombia
,
Pilar Lafuente
3   Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, La Rioja, Spain
,
Chiara Cianciolo
4   Department of Clinical Science, AO Innovation Translation Center, AO Foundation, Davos, Switzerland
,
Paul Cella
5   FACITtrans, Ponte Vedra, Florida, United States
,
Alexander Joeris
4   Department of Clinical Science, AO Innovation Translation Center, AO Foundation, Davos, Switzerland
› Institutsangaben

Funding This work was supported by AO VET.

Abstract

Background

The Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs (LOAD) is a widely used observer-reported outcome measure questionnaire for assessing pain in dogs with osteoarthritis. This study aimed to linguistically validate and culturally adapt the LOAD for German- and Spanish-speaking populations.

Methods

The process followed the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy translation methodology and involved two forward translations, a reconciliation of the forward translation, back translations, expert reviews, and cognitive debriefing interviews with a representative sample of dog carers. A universal approach was adopted to generate Universal German and Universal Spanish versions of the LOAD suitable for use in all German- and Spanish-speaking countries.

Results

The two forward translations and the reconciliation phase showed 12 and 6 discrepancies for the German and Spanish LOAD, respectively. Comparing the backward translation with the original version identified 13 items or instructions in the German LOAD and 20 in the Spanish LOAD that required retranslation. The review panel resolved both conceptual and literal discrepancies, while input from cognitive interview participants contributed to 6 additional revisions for the Universal German version and 15 for the Universal Spanish versions of the LOAD.

Conclusion

This stepwise approach resulted in linguistically validated and culturally adapted universal versions of the LOAD for the German- and Spanish-speaking populations.

Note

Parts of this work have been presented at the virtual AO VET Symposium—Bridging The Gap: Translating Clinical Research to Clinical Practice, December 2023.


Authors' Contribution

H.R. contributed to the conception of the study, study design, data acquisition, data analysis and interpretation, original draft writing, and reviewing and editing. N.A.R.R. and P.L. contributed to the data acquisition, data analysis and interpretation, and reviewing and editing. C.C. contributed to the original draft writing, reviewing, and editing. P.C. contributed to study design, data analysis and interpretation, as well as reviewing and editing. A.J. contributed to the conception of the study, study design and reviewed and approved the final manuscript.




Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 14. November 2024

Angenommen: 21. Februar 2025

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
12. Mai 2025

© 2025. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 
  • References

  • 1 Walton MB, Cowderoy E, Lascelles D, Innes JF. Evaluation of construct and criterion validity for the ‘Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs’ (LOAD) clinical metrology instrument and comparison to two other instruments. PLoS One 2013; 8 (03) e58125
  • 2 Belshaw Z, Asher L, Dean RS. Systematic review of outcome measures reported in clinical canine osteoarthritis research. Vet Surg 2016; 45 (04) 480-487
  • 3 Pinna S, Lambertini C, Grassato L, Romagnoli N. Evidence-based veterinary medicine: a tool for evaluating the healing process after surgical treatment for cranial cruciate ligament rupture in dogs. Front Vet Sci 2019; 6: 65
  • 4 Innes JF, Morton MA, Lascelles BDX. Minimal clinically-important differences for the ‘Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs’ (LOAD) and the ‘Canine Orthopedic Index’ (COI) client-reported outcomes measures. PLoS ONE 2023; 18 (02) e0280912
  • 5 Radke H, Joeris A, Chen M. Evidence-based evaluation of owner-reported outcome measures for canine orthopedic care - a COSMIN evaluation of 6 instruments. Vet Surg 2022; 51 (02) 244-253
  • 6 Hercock CA, Pinchbeck G, Giejda A, Clegg PD, Innes JF. Validation of a client-based clinical metrology instrument for the evaluation of canine elbow osteoarthritis. J Small Anim Pract 2009; 50 (06) 266-271
  • 7 Alves JC, Innes JF. Minimal clinically-important differences for the “Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs” (LOAD) and the “Canine Orthopedic Index” (COI) in dogs with osteoarthritis. PLoS One 2023; 18 (09) e0291881
  • 8 Wild D, Grove A, Martin M. et al; ISPOR Task Force for Translation and Cultural Adaptation. Principles of good practice for the translation and cultural adaptation process for patient-reported outcomes (PRO) measures: report of the ISPOR task force for translation and cultural adaptation. Value Health 2005; 8 (02) 94-104
  • 9 Eremenco S, Pease S, Mann S, Berry P. PRO Consortium's Process Subcommittee. Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) Consortium translation process: consensus development of updated best practices. J Patient Rep Outcomes 2017; 2 (01) 12
  • 10 McKown S, Acquadro C, Anfray C. et al. Good practices for the translation, cultural adaptation, and linguistic validation of clinician-reported outcome, observer-reported outcome, and performance outcome measures. J Patient Rep Outcomes 2020; 4 (01) 89
  • 11 Olcoz M, Cabezas MÁ, Gómez de Segura IA. Translation and linguistic validation into Spanish of the Owner-Reported Outcome Measure “Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs”. Front Vet Sci 2024; 11: 1360926
  • 12 Alves JC. Initial psychometric evaluation of the Portuguese version of the Canine Orthopedic Index. Vet Comp Orthop Traumatol 2023; 36 (05) 236-240
  • 13 Eremenco SL, Cella D, Arnold BJ. A comprehensive method for the translation and cross-cultural validation of health status questionnaires. Eval Health Prof 2005; 28 (02) 212-232
  • 14 Bonomi AE, Cella DF, Hahn EA. et al. Multilingual translation of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) quality of life measurement system. Qual Life Res 1996; 5 (03) 309-320
  • 15 Lent L, Hahn E, Eremenco S, Webster K, Cella D. Using cross-cultural input to adapt the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) scales. Acta Oncol 1999; 38 (06) 695-702
  • 16 Wild D, Eremenco S, Mear I. et al. Multinational trials-recommendations on the translations required, approaches to using the same language in different countries, and the approaches to support pooling the data: the ISPOR Patient-Reported Outcomes Translation and Linguistic Validation Good Research Practices Task Force report. Value Health 2009; 12 (04) 430-440
  • 17 American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). AVMA Pet Ownership and Demographic Sourcebook. 2017–2018. Accessed February 24, 2025; available at: https://ebusiness.avma.org/Files/ProductDownloads/2019%20ECO-PetDemoUpdateErrataFINAL-20190501.pdf
  • 18 RALEIGH PAWS. Hispanic Pet Owners in the U.S.: 20 Million and Growing. 2016. Accessed February 24, 2025 at: https://raleighpets.com/hispanic-pet-owners-u-s-20-million-growing/
  • 19 Landau RE, Beck A, Glickman LT, Litster A, Widmar NJ, Moore GE. Preparedness of small animal veterinary practices to communicate with Spanish-speaking pet owners with limited proficiency in English. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2016; 248 (06) 690-699
  • 20 Landau RE, Beck A, Glickman LT, Litster A, Widmar NJ, Moore GE. Use of veterinary services by Latino dog and cat owners with various degrees of English-language proficiency. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2016; 248 (06) 681-689
  • 21 Beatty PC, Willis GB. Research synthesis: the practice of cognitive interviewing. Public Opin Q 2007; 71: 287-311
  • 22 Willis G. Cognitive Interviewing. In: Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage Publications; 2005. Doi: 10.4135/9781412983655
  • 23 Ryan K, Gannon-Slater N, Culbertson MJ. Improving survey methods with cognitive interviews in small- and medium-scale evaluations. Am J Eval 2012; 33: 414-430
  • 24 Willis G. Analysis of the Cognitive Interview in Questionnaire Design. Oxford University Press; 2015: 274
  • 25 Loeser RF, Goldring SR, Scanzello CR, Goldring MB. Osteoarthritis: a disease of the joint as an organ. Arthritis Rheum 2012; 64 (06) 1697-1707
  • 26 Anderson KL, Zulch H, O'Neill DG, Meeson RL, Collins LM. Risk factors for canine osteoarthritis and its predisposing arthropathies: a systematic review. Front Vet Sci 2020; 7: 220
  • 27 Pye C, Bruniges N, Peffers M, Comerford E. Advances in the pharmaceutical treatment options for canine osteoarthritis. J Small Anim Pract 2022; 63 (10) 721-738
  • 28 ITIFDO Publique. IFOP survey: The place of pets within the couple – Vetocanis Annual report. Vetocanis; 2022