The reliability of an Arabic translation of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test.

OBJECTIVES: To produce a conceptually equivalent Arabic version of the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Assessment Test (CAT), and to assess its reliability.

METHODS: A prospective observational study was carried out from June 2010 to September 2010 at King Abdulaziz Medical City and King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We conducted this study in 2 phases. Phase 1: the translation of the CAT from English to Arabic, through forward and backward translation, as well as pilot testing. Phase 2: assessment of the test-retest reliability of the CAT for 45 patients with COPD who received optimal care by their pulmonologist.

RESULTS: This study was conducted on 45 participants. The CAT mean total (± SD) score at the test session was 10.7±5.8, and 9.2±4.5 at the re-test session. The interclass correlation of the total score was 0.9 (p=0.000076). The strongest correlation was for the item of confidence in leaving home with a value of 0.92 (p=0.000082), whereas the weakest was for the item related to sleep with a value of 0.53 (p=0.007).

CONCLUSIONS: The Arabic version of the CAT was found to be easy to administer, reliable, and had a strong interclass correlation reflecting stability over time and across the items.