Cross-cultural Adaptation of Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire in Marathi Language

Introduction: Heart failure patients experience various symptoms such as dyspnea, fatigue, edema, sleeping difficulties, depression and chest pain. These symptoms limit patients’ daily physical and social activities and result in poor Quality of life. Quality of life scales help in evaluating the impact of different treatments. The Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) has been developed to measure the effects of heart failure and treatment of heart failure on Quality of life. The aim of this study was to translate MLHFQ into the Marathi language.

Methods: The cross-cultural adaptation was performed as it is recommended in the international guidelines with the following steps: forward translation, synthesis, back-translation, consolidation of translations with expert committee, and pre-testing.

Results: The translated version was assessed by the expert committee for any missing words and further modified as needed. 30 heart failure patients were included in this study for pre-testing the pre-final version of questionnaire in Marathi language. Semantic equivalence between the back-translated version and the original version was achieved. This ensured that the adapted version is still retaining its equivalence. The mean age of heart failure patients was 60±15.2 years. Probing for each item was done to check the equivalence of the adapted version.

Conclusion: Marathi version of Minnesota living with heart failure questionnaire is cross-culturally adapted; it will prove to be a very useful & multi-dimensional tool to assess the Quality of life in heart failure patients.