A Spanish translation of the Walking Impairment Questionnaire was validated for patients with peripheral arterial disease

Abstract

Objectives Walking impairment is a common manifestation of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). In this study we present evidence for the validity of our Spanish translation of the Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ). Methods The WIQ was translated into Spanish by our team of researchers. Spanish-speaking patients in the Houston, TX, area completed Spanish versions of the WIQ and the SF-36. Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity of the WIQ was obtained from correlations between the WIQ and other measures. Spanish or English as the primary language defined language-speaking status. Results Among 403 patients, convergent validity evidence was strong for both English- and Spanish-speaking patients. For patients with PAD, the correlation between walking distance and physical functioning was 0.55 ( P < .01) for English-speaking patients and 0.85 ( P < .01) for Spanish-speaking patients. The correlations of walking impairment with emotional health measures ranged from 0.26 to 0.44 for English-speaking patients ( P < .01) and from 0.34 to 0.78 for Spanish-speaking patients. Conclusions The WIQ scores correlated well with SF-36 components for both English- and Spanish-speaking patients. Our findings suggested that our translation process did not limit our ability to capture good-quality data. Further research is needed to determine what specific items in the WIQ or the SF-36 questionnaire warrant restructuring to increase their validity for use in diverse populations.