METHODS: The questionnaire was translated into Mandarin. Upon enrollment, caregivers completed the Mandarin PEDS and answered four questions about its acceptability and usefulness, and its ease of understanding and completion. The Mandarin PEDS was independently evaluated by a pediatrician and a community nurse, and classified as high risk (≥two predictive concerns), medium risk (one predictive concern), low risk (any non-predictive concerns) or no risk (if no concern) for developmental delays. The caregivers repeated Mandarin PEDS at a 2 week interval for test-retest reliability, while the children underwent testing for accuracy using a developmental assessment test.

METHODS: The forward-backward and dual-panel versions of HeartQoL were self-administered among 60 participants who met the inclusion criteria of being a native Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Malay, aged 18 and older, having an indexed diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease and being cognitively fit. The administration sequence of the two versions was randomized. Additionally, three sociolinguists, who were blinded to translation processes and survey findings, rated the translated versions against the source version on three aspects of semantic equivalence.

RESULTS: Textual content in both translated versions was considerably similar (n = 9/14 items, ≈64%). The overall results from weighted kappa, raw agreement, intraclass correlations, and Wilcoxon signed-rank as well as experts' ratings were confirmative of semantic equivalence between the forward-backward and dual-panel versions of the HeartQoL. However, some mixed findings were indicative of potential gaps in both translated versions against the source version.

METHODS: Primarily the questions were generated in English. Face and content validity were performed by five experts in Pharmacy Practice and Medicine. A translation as per guidelines into Malay language was performed; followed by face-to-face interview of 96 lay public in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. For internal consistency, reliability was assessed utilizing Cronbach's alpha.

RESULTS: The mean ± SD of the awareness and action towards heart attack symptoms and risk factors was 65.52 ± 6.3, with a good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.75), whereas the mean of the awareness and action towards stroke symptoms and risk factors was 61.93 ± 7.11, with an accepted internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86).

METHOD: We translated into Malay a brief screening instrument for ascertainment of epilepsy designed and validated by Ottman et al., using the three-stage cross-cultural adaptation process developed by the International Quality of Life Assessment (IQOLA) project. We then administered the translated questionnaire via online survey to 162 cases (patients with epilepsy under follow-up care at the neurology clinic in University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur) and 146 controls with no known history of epilepsy for validation.

RESULTS: Applying the most liberal definition for a positive screen, we obtained a sensitivity of 96.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 91.8-98.5%), with a specificity of 66.4% (95% CI: 58.1-73.0%) and positive predictive value (PPV) of 2.0%. The most stringent definition for a positive screen (only epilepsy) resulted in a sensitivity of 97.4% (95% CI: 62.0-72.6%), specificity of 98.6% (95% CI: 94.6-99.7%), and PPV of 26.6%. Narrowing the definition of a positive screen decreased sensitivity but improved PPVs. When compared to the original English questionnaire, the sensitivities were similar for all four definitions of a positive screen.

METHOD: A prospective test-retest design was employed on Malaysian women with early breast cancer (N = 105). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24.

RESULTS: The results showed overall Cronbach alpha values were .92 and .93 for test-retest, respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values ranged between .62 and .75. This study accepted three factors and two factors for test-retest, respectively. Individual factors showed Cronbach alpha average ranged from .71 to .91.

METHODS: The Malay version of the FACT-B, with Disabilities of Arms, Shoulders and Hands (DASH), and Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety-Depression Scale (PHQ-ADS) were distributed to female breast cancer survivors which were recruited on a voluntary basis, from cancer support groups based in selected states in Malaysia. Reliability was assessed based on internal consistency (Cronbach's α), whereas concurrent validity was examined by comparing domains in FACT-B with DASH and PHQ-ADS. Finally, total scores of each domain were analysed between lymphedema and without lymphedema groups for known-group validity.

RESULTS: A total of 113 breast cancer survivors agreed to participate (response rate = 100%) in the study. Our results showed that the Cronbach's α value for Malay FACT-B is 0.88, and each domain ranged from 0.62 to 0.88. A strong correlation was found between the physical well-being domain of FACT-B with DASH. Meanwhile, the breast cancer scale (BCS) displayed significant correlation with the instrument, Patient Health Questionnaire- Anxiety Depression Scale (PHQ-ADS), indicating that multiple factors including psychological distress were measured in the BCS domain. Furthermore, the instrument was able to detect differences in physical, functional and QOL between participants from lymphedema and without lymphedema groups.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the psychometric properties of the Malay version of SF-36 (Malay SF-36) summated rating scales and validate the scale among post-coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG) patients at the National Heart Institute (IJN), Kuala Lumpur.

METHODS: Five hundred and nine post-CABG patients at the IJN, Malaysia completed the questionnaires between 1 July and 31 December 2017. Psychometric tests endorsed by the "International Quality of Life Assessment Project" were utilised.

RESULTS: The data quality was excellent with a high questionnaire completion rate (100%). As hypothesized, the ordering of item means within scales was clustered. In unison, scaling assumptions were satisfied. Good discriminant validity was shown between subsets of patients with various levels of health status. Notwithstanding, there were probably translation issues of the Physical Functioning scale which showed small ceiling effects. We clearly observed high ceiling and floor effects in both Role Physical and Role Emotional scale most probably attributed to the dichotomous style of their choice of responses. Cronbach alpha values of the eight scales ranged from 0.73 to 0.90, showing good internal consistency reliability. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) confirmed the 8-factor solution and Composite Reliability revealed internal consistency reliability except for Vitality and Social Functioning. Based on the Average Variance Extracted (AVE), convergent validity was adequate except for two domains. Discriminant Validity is good for the eight constructs as the √AVE are generally higher than the correlation coefficients between the latent constructs.

OBJECTIVE: To cross-culturally adapt and determine the psychometric properties of the Malay-translated Parenting and Child Tooth Brushing Assessment questionnaire (M-PACTA).

METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study involved face and content validation, and forward and back-translation of PACTA. The M-PACTA was then tested for reliability and construct validity on 150 Malaysian parents of children aged 5 to 6 years old.

RESULTS: Face validity indicated that the M-PACTA items were clear and easy to understand. For content validity, some words had to be modified in accordance with the recommendations of the expert committees to make it more coherent to Malaysians. Some statements in the parental knowledge scales were modified according to the guidelines applicable in Malaysia. The content comparison of the back translation with the adapted PACTA revealed that all items were semantic and linguistically equivalent. Exploratory factor analyses of M-PACTA suggested a two-factor structure for three scales including child behaviour scale ('non-compliance' and 'avoidance behaviour'), parental attitudes ('lack of concern' and 'attitude of care'), and parental knowledge ('general tooth brushing knowledge' and 'awareness of tooth brushing care') while for the parental strategy scale, three-factor structure was extracted including 'routine positive methods', 'uncommon positive methods', and 'negative methods'. Internal consistencies for all scales were good (α > 0.9).