OBJECTIVE: The living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (LCOPD) scale was developed in the United Kingdom and the United States to assess the quality of life (QoL) of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The scale was shown to be well accepted by patients, to be unidimensional, and to have very good psychometric properties. This article reports on the adaptation of the measure for use in representative Southern European (Italian and Spanish) and Eastern European (Russian) languages.
STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: The same methodology was used in each country: translation panels were held to produce new language versions. These were then tested with patients to ensure face and content validity. Finally, test-retest postal surveys were conducted to establish internal consistency, reproducibility, and construct validity.
RESULTS: Few problems were found in translating the LCOPD, and patient interviews indicated that the measure was considered relevant and easy to complete. The validation surveys showed that the new versions of the LCOPD were consistent, reproducible, and had good construct validity. The psychometric properties of the new versions were similar to those found for the original U.K. and U.S. versions.
CONCLUSION: The study was successful in adapting the LCOPD for use in Southern and Eastern European languages.
