Methods to Compare the Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Symptom Assessment Form (MPN-SAF) Across Nine Linguistic Translations

• Activity Number: 321
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Biopharmaceutical Section
• Author(s): Amylou Dueck*+ and Jeff Sloan and Ruben Mesa
• Companies: Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic
• Keywords: Cancer ; Quality of life ; Symptom measurement ; Differential item functioning ; Mixed effects models ; Fixed effects models

Abstract

The 18-item Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Symptom Assessment Form (MPN-SAF) given in conjunction with the 9-item Brief Fatigue Inventory is a patient-completed questionnaire for assessing symptom response in persons with MPNs in multinational clinical trials. MPN-SAF has been translated and validated in nine languages to date. Methods used to compare other multi-symptom patient questionnaires in cancer across linguistic translations include differential item functioning, mixed effects models, and fixed effects models with post hoc pairwise comparisons. In an international cohort of 1,851 subjects with MPNs, we compare the MPN-SAF across nine linguistic translation groups using these methods. Results are compared and contrasted to highlight usefulness/interpretation under each method. Differences are observed in concentration, sexual problems, dizziness, and overall quality of life, whereas no meaningful differences are observed for abdominal discomfort, headache, extremity tingling, and insomnia. All three methods are complementary providing slightly different interpretations. This analysis suggests that MPN-SAF translations are generally acceptable in a multinational context.