Translation and cultural adaptation of the Impact of Vision Impairment (IVI) questionnaire in Spain

Abstract

Background and purposes

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of visual acuity (VA) impairment in Europe. The assessment of the patients’ vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) is critical to disease management. The Impact of Visual Impairment questionnaire (IVI) is indicated to assess VRQoL in AMD and its most severe form, neovascular AMD (nAMD). Translation and cultural adaptation of 28-item IVI questionnaire (IVI-28) to Castilian and three other co-official languages in Spain is presented.

Material and methods

Observational, cross-sectional, multicentric study with two focus groups for each language: Castilian, Catalan, Galician and Basque. Translated versions of IVI-28 were administered to patients, with a subsequent comprehension test to assess the clarity and understanding of the instructions, items and response formats.

Results

The Castilian version of the IVI-28 (IVI-Es) was administered to 11 patients, the Catalan version (IVI-Ca) to 12 patients, the Galician version (IVI-Ga) to 9 patients and the Basque version (IVI-Eu) to 8 patients. All versions showed good feasibility and minor changes were reported in the comprehension test.

Conclusions

The translation and adaptation of IVI-28 to Castilian, Catalan, Galician and Basque is the first step for its use in nAMD population and for the clinical management of this disease in Spain.