Danish translation and cultural adaptation of the 'What do you think of hospital' patient reported experience measure for children and adolescents in outpatient settings

MyHospitalVoice - a digital tool co-created with children and adolescents that captures patient-reported experience measures: a study protocol

BACKGROUND

Children and adolescents have the right to participate in decisions concerning their health and express their views, also regarding hospital experiences. Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) are valuable tools for systematically incorporating patient voices into healthcare systems. New developments have focused on PREMs for children and adolescents, though they are more commonly used in adults. A recent systematic review mapping their use for children and adolescents indicates a growing interest in this area. However, most PREMs are completed by proxy, in this case parents, so they do not necessarily reflect children's experiences or align with their rights. Innovation is required to support and engage children and adolescents in responding to these types of questionnaires.

METHODS

Collaborating with children and adolescents (4-17 years), the primary aim of this study is to develop and validate the tool MyHospitalVoice containing digital and developmentally appropriate PREMs. The secondary aim is to document and evaluate the approaches used to involve children and adolescents and to assess the impact of their involvement. Based on the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer framework, we will divide its development and validation into four phases. First, we will discuss PREM items with children and adolescents, who will select and prioritise what they perceive as most important. Second, we will create items targeting different age groups (4-7, 8-12, and 13-17 years) and design a responsive digital interface with child and youth friendly ways of responding to the questionnaires. Third, we will explore how children and adolescents perceive MyHospitalVoice using cognitive interviewing techniques and other age-appropriate methods. Last, we will pilot test MyHospitalVoice to explore patient experiences and response rates. In each phase, children and adolescents will play an active role. We will involve young adults as peer researchers in the project group to ensure that their perspectives are part of the decision-making process.

DISCUSSION

This project will contribute to research on co-creating with children and adolescents and enhance our understanding of their patient experiences. A validated tool like MyHospitalVoice can help improve quality of care by translating the needs and preferences of children and adolescents into clinical practice.

Adaptation, Translation, and Validation of a Patient-Reported Experience Measure for Children and Young People for the Canadian Context

BACKGROUND

Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) evaluate children's and young people's (CYP) perceptions of care. An important PREM developed with and for children was created in London, UK. Given the absence of similar North American instruments, we aimed to adapt, translate, and linguistically validate this instrument for use in a Canadian pediatric outpatient setting.

METHODS

A qualitative design was used, involving CYP and their parents/caregivers. Phase 1 entailed the English survey adaptation using think-aloud testing, revision, and cognitive testing. Phase 2 involved translation into French, revision and back-translation, and cognitive testing. Phase 3 encompassed a cross-validation of the English and French versions of the adapted instrument.

RESULTS

Fifty-five children in 3 age groups (8-11y, 12-13y, 14-16y) participated in creating the Canadian PREM. In Phases 1 and 2, 41 children participated in reviewing and updating specific questions in the instrument, resulting in adjustments and revisions based on their feedback. In Phase 3, 14 bilingual children linguistically validated the PREM instrument.

CONCLUSIONS

This study reports the development of the first Canadian PREM specifically tailored to children. By incorporating the perspectives and preferences of CYP in clinical practice, this approach has the potential to amplify the delivery of patient-centered care for this vulnerable population and ensure that the needs and voices of CYP are acknowledged.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

V, Therapeutic.

Translation, cultural adaptation and validation of a patient-reported experience measure for children

BACKGROUND

There is no national, validated, generic patient-reported experience measure (PREM) for children under 15 years of age in Sweden. A recent cross-sectional study found no consensus in how children's voices are heard in paediatric health care, as well as a lack of validated questionnaires.

AIM

The aim of this study is to translate, adapt and validate the six versions of the Children's and Young People's PREM for use in a Swedish health care context.

DESIGN

An exploratory sequential mixed-method design including cognitive interviews and content validity index (CVI) was used. The interviews focused on evaluating children's understanding of the questionnaire, and the CVI was used to further adjust the relevance of the questionnaire.

PARTICIPANTS

A convenience sample of 62 children participated in the cognitive interviews and an additional convenience sample of 42 children was included in the CVI testing. The children, aged 8-16 years, were attending routine visits at paediatric departments in a county hospital and a children's hospital in the mid-Sweden region between October 2020 and June 2022.

RESULTS

The translation, adaptation and validation process identified several issues regarding the understanding of the questionnaire in a Swedish context. Adaptations were made based on issues related to context, wording and the structure of the questions. CVI testing resulted in the removal of 3-10 questions in each of the different versions of the questionnaire.

CONCLUSION

The study has resulted in six face- and content-validated Swedish versions of the questionnaire ready for pilot testing. Although the versions of the original questionnaire were developed in collaboration with children in the United Kingdom, this did not mean that they could automatically be used in a Swedish health care context. This study confirms the importance of a rigorous process of adaptation and validation to ensure quality and applicability to children accessing health care in different countries.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

Children's views have guided the development of the original instrument and its adaptation to the Swedish health care context. Due to the strong patient involvement in the process of developing the Swedish versions of the questionnaire, the research group made a pragmatic decision to have no other patient contribution in the study.