Adaptation and Validation of the Diabetes-39 Quality-of-Life Questionnaire for the Moroccan Population
Objective: To translate and adapt to the Moroccan context the diabetes-39 questionnaire, and to assess the psychometric properties of the adapted version among Moroccan patients with diabetes. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire was translated from English to spoken Arabic, then back translated to English. A consensus meeting discussed discrepancies and major changes. The adapted version was administered to 92 patients with type 2 diabetes to assess its psychometric properties. Inter-item correlation, item-to-dimension correlation, and Cronbach’s alpha were calculated to assess internal consistency. Additionally, construct validity was assessed using means comparison of domains scores according to the general perception of the quality of life and the perception of disease severity. Results: Participants’ mean age was 56.4 ± 10.9. The sample was constituted predominantly by women. Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.65 for “social burden” and 0.93 for “diabetes control”. Items showed a higher correlation with their own domain as compared to other domains. Higher scores of the five domains of the diabetes-39 were associated with the perception of lower quality of life and higher disease severity. Conclusion: The results of this study support the reliability and validity of the Moroccan version of the diabetes-39 questionnaire. They justify its use and further assessment among our patients with diabetes.