Translation and cultural adaptation of a Danish version of the Foot Health Status Questionnaire for individuals with plantar heel pain

BACKGROUND: The Foot Health Status Questionnaire (FHSQ) is recommended as a valid and reliable patient-reported outcome for individuals with plantar heel pain (PHP). The aim of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the FHSQ into Danish and investigate face and construct validity among patients with PHP.

METHODS: The translation was made using the dual-panel approach. The first panel of bilingual translators translated the questionnaire and the translation was then presented to a lay panel who reviewed and revised the translated version. This version was presented to patients with PHP (n=6) who were interviewed about the comprehensibility, if they found it easy to fill out, and if they found the questionnaire to be relevant to them. Correlation between mean weekly heel pain and FHSQ scores were used to assess construct validity in another patient sample (n=30).

RESULTS: The first panel of five translators reached consensus on all 13 items. The layman panel of five participants rephrased two items. Both the layman panel and patients had difficulties with differentiating between items 12 and 13 but concluded that making better phrasings that would work in Danish was not possible. The questionnaire was evaluated as relevant and comprehensible. No revisions were made after the interviews. Pain and function domains correlated with heel pain but not footwear or general foot health.

CONCLUSION: The FHSQ was translated into a Danish version (FHSQ-DK) which demonstrated both face and construct validity. More psychometric properties of the FHSQ-DK should be established in future studies.