Cross-cultural Convergent Validation of the Spanish and English Versions of the Personal Impact of Epilepsy Scale (PIES) in a Cohort of Patients from a Level IV Epilepsy Center in South Florida

Abstract

Abstract Objective To provide further convergent validity on the Personal Impact of Epilepsy Scale (PIES) Spanish version for use in Hispanics with epilepsy. Participants and Method This study included 90 patients (22 Hispanic and Spanish speaking - HSS, 30 Hispanic and English speaking – HES, and 38 non-Hispanic and English speaking – NHES) who were diagnosed with epilepsy and referred by their epileptologist for a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation that, in addition to cognitive measures, also included the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and PIES in English or Spanish- depending on the participant’s primary language. The PIES was created with subscales to measure the effect of seizures, adverse effects of treatment, and comorbidities such as mood disorders on quality of life. We compared scores on the PIES subscales in English and Spanish to determine equivalence. We further examined if language of administration moderated the relationship between PIES subscale scores and depression/anxiety through nonparametric bootstrapping. Results There were no significant demographic or clinical differences between the 3 groups examined. ANOVA contrast of mean scores on all PIES subscales between HSS, HES and NHES groups did not reach significance (Seizures F [2,88] = .06 , p = -.93; Medication use F[2,88] = 1.95, p = .14, Comorbidity F[2,88] = .64, p = .52, and total PIES F[2,88] = .19, p = .83). The relationships between PIES and BDI-II/BAI scores were not significantly moderated by language of administration. Conclusions Our data suggest clinical equivalency between the English and Spanish versions of the PIES. Furthermore, the relationships between PIES subscales and the BDI-II/BAI were not significantly changed by language of administration. These findings indicate that the Spanish PIES appears to have good convergent validity with the original English version and can be useful in the assessment of quality of life in HSS patients.