Cross-cultural linguistic adaptation of Arabic version of four dimensional symptom questionnaire (4DSQ) for assessing distress, anxiety, depression and somatization in Egyptian primary care attendees

Abstract Background The four-dimensional symptom questionnaire (4DSQ) is a Dutch self-administered screening tool that has been developed in primary care to differentiate non pathologic general distress from depression, anxiety and somatization. It validated the English language as well other languages yet it not Arabic. For sake of developing appropriate Arabic version, linguistic validation sought with guidance crosscultural adaptation guidelines. Objective To design version 4DSQ conceptual equivalence its for administration Egyptian attendees. Methods was translated by 5 translators (including specialist psychiatrist, internists specialist) into (Egyptian spoken dialect) without mutual consultation. An expert committee consisted 2 professors public health family medicine an associate professor neuropsychiatry formed. consensus created after modification approval each item using DELPHI method. After back translation carried out two independent bilingual physicians whose their mother tongue. A pilot study on 17 participants answering both test equivalence. updated based final developed. then tested 278 Results course forward translation, committee’s review developer’s comments, assessment distress, There no significant difference between results paired T test. Final testing showed very good internal consistency 4 scales questionnaire. Conclusion linguistically conceptually corresponds 4DSQ. structural validity reliability thus could be used further psychometric validation.