Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Sydney Swallow Questionnaire in Urdu and Its Psychometric Properties Among Post-Stroke Dysphagia Patients.

Objectives: Self-rating questionnaires provide a detailed overview of the symptomatic severity of post-stroke dysphagia in the geriatric population; such assessment tools or the subjective evaluation of post-stroke dysphagia are unavailable for Urdu-speaking patients. Sydney Swallow Questionnaire (SSQ) is a reliable assessment tool used to evaluate the symptoms of dysphagia, especially among geriatric patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia. The purpose of this study was translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the SSQ in Urdu and to assess its psychometric properties among post-stroke dysphagia patients. Methods: The SSQ was translated following the WHO Guidelines for Translation and Adaptation. Cognitive interviews and focused group discussions were conducted to evaluate the comprehension level of the questionnaire among Urdu-speaking clinicians. After getting ethical approval from the Shifa Review Board, the final version was administered to 61 patients with post-stroke dysphagia to assess the severity of the problem they faced during swallowing. Psychometric properties, including Cronbach's alpha reliability, test-retest reliability, intra-rater reliability, and scale validity index, were assessed to confirm the standardization of the questionnaire. Results: The Urdu version of SSQ had a Cronbach's alpha reliability of 0.941 with a Conclusions: Results of cognitive interviews depicted that the Urdu-translated final version of SSQ was close to the original version, and was easy to comprehend, and well accepted by both clinicians and post-stroke dysphagia patients. The SSQ-U proves to be a valid and reliable tool for assessing dysphagia among post-stroke patients of Pakistan and can be used for academic, clinical, and research purposes.