Validation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Arabic Version of Pelvic Girdle Pain Questionnaire

Authors Dr. Islam Elkhateb¹, Dr. Shaimaa Mostafa², Dr. Asmaa Elshazly², Dr. Hanaa Samer¹, Dr. Mostafa Yosef³, Kenzy Elessawy⁴ , Dr. Britt Stuge⁵
Affiliations ¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cairo University Students’ Hospital, Cairo, Egypt ² Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Cairo University Kasr Alainy Teaching Hospital, Cairo, Egypt ³ Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt ⁴ School of Medicine, Newgiza University, Giza, Egypt ⁵ Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

ABSTRACT
Background: The Pelvic Girdle Questionnaire (PGQ) is the only tool for assessing symptoms and activity limitations in pelvic girdle pain (PGP), especially during pregnancy and postpartum.

The Problem: No validated Arabic version of the PGQ exists, limiting its accessibility to nearly half a billion Arabic speakers.
METHODOLOGY

Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Conducted in two phases
Phase 1: The PGQ was translated and culturally adapted into Arabic using Beaton guidelines. Seventeen women participated in the pilot testing
Phase 2: 140 pregnant and postpartum women with PGP completed the Arabic-PGQ, Oswestry Disability Index, and Numeric Pain Rating Scale to assess construct validity
Floor/ceiling effects, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and agreement were analyzed. Discriminative validity was evaluated to distinguish between those needing treatment and between pregnant vs. postpartum women.

The Arabic version of the Pelvic Girdle Questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool for assessing pain and daily activity limitations in Arabic- speaking pregnant and postpartum women.

 

RESULTS

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The Arabic-PGQ showed strong construct validity, with high correlations to the Oswestry Disability Index (r = 0.637) and the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (r = 0.634).
No floor or ceiling effects were observed.
Internal consistency was good (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.825).
Test-retest reliability was high (ICC > 0.8), with minimal detectable change ranging from 17.26% to 19.64%.
The Arabic-PGQ could discriminate between pregnant and postpartum women (AUC = 0.714, p < 0.001), but not between those receiving treatment and those not (AUC = 0.559, p = 0.269).
CONCLUSION
The Arabic-PGQ is a reliable, valid, and easy-to-understand tool for assessing PGP in the Arabic-speaking population.