Validation of the St George's respiratory questionnaire in patients with COPD or asthma in Morocco

SETTING: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are a public health problem in Morocco. Their evaluation should be supplemented by quality of life measurement, but there is no specific instrument available in local Moroccan Arabic. OBJECTIVE: To validate a Moroccan Arabic version of the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) in patients with COPD or asthma in Morocco. DESIGN: After a rigorous translation process of the SGRQ into local Moroccan Arabic (SGRQm), the SGRQm, spirometry, Fletcher scale and a visual analogical scale (VAS) were administered to each patient at recruitment. Data were used to examine the construct validity and reliability of the SGRQm. To examine the test-retest reliability, patients completed the SGRQm a second time 10 days later. RESULTS: A total of 131 patients with a mean age of 52 years were recruited into the study. Patients had a mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) of 1.70 1 and a mean VAS of 51.5 mm. Internal consistency of symptoms, activity and impact components was assessed using Cronbach's alpha (α) reliability coefficient; they were 0.94, 0.91 and 0.90, respectively. The test-retest reliability of components scores ranged from 0.70 to 0.87. The Fletcher scale correlated with all SGRQm scores, while the VAS had a similar correlation except with symptoms (P > 0.05). FEV 1 values were negatively correlated with all SGRQm scores. CONCLUSION: The SGRQm yielded satisfactory psychometric properties. © 2006 The Union.