Selection and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Health Outcome Measures

Abstract

In evaluating health care there is often a need to go beyond simple measures of health like morbidity and mortality, and look at changes in patients’ quantity as well as quality of life. An ever-growing number of instruments are available. The article focuses on issues related to the selection of instruments for the assessment of health status and health outcome. The aim is to provide the reader with a series of questions to be considered in choosing and using an instrument or adapting one for use in a particular culture. The theoretical concept of health and its relevant components must be assessed. The researcher must furthermore assess the purpose of measuring health, conceptual underpinning of the chosen health measure, from whose perspective the assessment should be made, target population, setting in which the instrument is to be administered, and type of instrument (e.g. a generic versus an illness-specific instrument) and its psychometric properties as well as practical requirements in administering the instrument. The specific considerations in adopting an instrument for cross-cultural use include procedures for translation.