OBJECTIVES: The Asthma Life Impact Scale (ALIS) is a disease-specific measure used to assess the quality of life of people with Asthma. It was developed in parallel in the UK and US and has proven to be acceptable to patients, to have good psychometric properties and to be unidimensional. The objective of this study was to adapt and validate the ALIS for use in Italy and Russia.
METHODS: The dual panel methodology was used to translate the ALIS for both cultures. Patient interviews were conducted to test the new language versions to ensure their face and content validity. A test-retest postal survey was conducted in both countries to assess the psychometric properties of the new adaptations.
RESULTS: The translation process proved straightforward. Cognitive debriefing interviews conducted in Italy (n15) and Russia (n9) indicated that patients found the new versions of the ALIS easy to complete and relevant. Validation data were available from postal surveys in Italy (n61) and Russia (n71). Both new versions of the ALIS had good internal consistency (0.92) and high test-retest correlation coefficients (Italian 0.86; Russian 0.94) indicating good reproducibility. The Russian ALIS showed strong correlations with a measure of fatigue (CAFS; 0.87) and sleep (CASIS; 0.85). The Italian ALIS had a moderate correlation with the Nottingham Health Profile Energy level scale (0.63). Both adaptations of the ALIS were able to distinguish between patients based on their self-rated general health and asthma severity.
CONCLUSIONS: The ALIS was successfully adapted for use in Italy and Russia. The psychometric properties of these new adaptations matched those of the original UK and US versions. The new instruments represent valid and reliable tools for measuring QoL in international clinical trials and for use in routine clinical practice.
