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Table 2 Example of the translation process of one item from the Ability to Participate in Social Roles and Activities item bank

From: Simplified Chinese translation of 13 adult item banks from the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QoL)

NQPRF1

Item Wording

Original English

I have to limit my hobbies or leisure activities

Forward 1

ꈑäøå¾—äøé™åˆ¶č‡Ŗå·±ēš„ēˆ±å„½å’Œä¼‘é—²ę“»åŠØ

Forward 2

ꈑäøå¾—äøé™åˆ¶ęˆ‘ēš„ēˆ±å„½å’Œä¼‘é—²ę“»åŠØ

Reconciliation

ꈑäøå¾—äøé™åˆ¶ęˆ‘ēš„äøšä½™ēˆ±å„½å’Œä¼‘é—²ę“»åŠØ

Back Translation

I have to limit my hobbies and recreation activities

FACIT

1. Do you agree with the words chosen by the Reconciliation (REC) translation?

2. Also, we should confirm that the current translation is acceptable.

Reviewer 1 (Chinese)

REC is OK

Reviewer 2 (Chinese)

Suggestion:ꈑåæ…é”»é™åˆ¶ęˆ‘ēš„äøšä½™ēˆ±å„½å’Œä¼‘é—²ę“»åŠØ.

ā€œäøå¾—äøā€ indicates that you must do something for compelling reason. This is a written language rather than a usual expression. I am afraid that it is hard to understand for any person with low education.

Reviewer 3 (English)

Suggestion: ęˆ‘č¦é™åˆ¶ęˆ‘ēš„äøšä½™ēˆ±å„½å’Œä¼‘é—²ę“»åŠØ

ā€œäøå¾—äøā€ emphasizes that I cannot do that because of limitations of my body function. Instead, the word ā€œč¦ā€ indicates that I cannot paticipate in any activities, either because of my limitation or because I donā€™t want to.

Reviewer 4 (Chinese)

Suggestion:ꈑåæ…é”»/č¦é™åˆ¶ęˆ‘ēš„äøšä½™ēˆ±å„½å’Œä¼‘é—²ę“»åŠØ.

ā€œäøå¾—äøā€ is a double-negative word. I think that most Chinese people do not understand. Conversely, I suggest ā€œåæ…é”»ā€ and ā€œč¦,ā€ which are more acceptable and understandable by most people.

Reviewer 5 (Chinese)

The translation is OK. However, ā€œäøå¾—äøā€ is not often used in the Chinese context.

Reviewer 6 (English)

REC looks good for me.

Reviewer 7 (English)

I suggested that we should get some feedback from our patients to decide if either one of these three words: ā€œäøå¾—äø,ā€ ā€œåæ…é”»,ā€ or ā€œč¦ā€ would work better.

Translation working team comments

Reviewers agreed that REC is the final translation; however, they recommended keeping these terms and asked participants during cognitive interviews.

Proofreading

ꈑäøå¾—äøé™åˆ¶ęˆ‘ēš„äøšä½™ēˆ±å„½å’Œä¼‘é—²ę“»åŠØ

ꈑåæ…é”»é™åˆ¶ęˆ‘ēš„äøšä½™ēˆ±å„½å’Œä¼‘é—²ę“»åŠØ

ęˆ‘č¦é™åˆ¶ęˆ‘ēš„äøšä½™ēˆ±å„½å’Œä¼‘é—²ę“»åŠØ

Post-test final

After cognitive review, the final translation was confirmed: ꈑåæ…é”»é™åˆ¶ęˆ‘ēš„äøšä½™ēˆ±å„½å’Œä¼‘é—²ę“»åŠØ.

Most participants in the cognitive interview suggested that ā€œåæ…é”»ā€ is idiomatic Chinese. Four participants reported that ā€œäøå¾—äøā€ is not often used in China, and they have difficulty understanding it. Three participants considered ā€œäøå¾—äøā€ difficult to understand for persons with low education. Three participants suggested that ā€œč¦ā€ is unsuitable because it does not describe the limitation the person faces to participate in social activities.