The concurrent validity of an isiZulu Bournemouth Questionnaire in comparison to its English original

Abstract

Aim The aim of this study was to determine the concurrent validity of an isiZulu Bournemouth Questionnaire in comparison to its English counterpart.

Methodology This quantitative correlational study compared the isiZulu version of the Bournemouth Questionnaire to its English counterpart, (consisting of three sections: back, neck and musculoskeletal). The study employed a design where subjects were compared to themselves. A sample of 120 volunteers over the age of 18 years, who were literate in both English and isiZulu took part in the study. Whether the participant was symptomatic or asymptomatic was not of concern. Using a randomised list, the participants were administered one of the two versions of the questionnaire to be completed first, the second and alternate questionnaire was administered after an interval of at least 20 minutes.

Results Of 120 paired questionnaires, 107 completed pairs were returned, resulting in a response rate of 89.2%. Results, using Cronbach-α (α= 0.05) with subsequent testing using the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity, revealed that the questionnaires, in toto, had high levels of correlation. The relationship between the isiZulu and the English questions revealed a positive and high correlation using Kendall’s tau-b which was statistically significant (τb > 0.55, p = 0.000), although there were isolated instances of statistical difference between individual pairs of questions in respect to age, gender, site, primary language and level of education.

Conclusions The study found that the isiZulu version of the Bournemouth Questionnaire showed concurrent validity with its English counterpart, and recommendations were made for the clinical application of the isiZulu version as a means of refining the interpretation of disjunct question pairs.