Validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Health-Related Quality of Life questionnaire

ObjectiveThe Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Health-Related Quality of Life (GERD-HRQL) is one of the most widely used questionnaires for assessing typical gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) symptoms. It is simple, concise, and treatment responsive, yet it has not been validated in the Persian language. This study aimed to translate the GERD-HRQL questionnaire into Persian and assess its validity and reliability.DesignIn this cross-sectional validation study, a team of gastroenterologists, general surgeons, and professional translators conducted the forward-backward translation. A gastroenterologist interviewed 10 patients with GORD to insure understandability of the questionnaire. Fifty-four patients with GORD and 60 patients with gastrointestinal complaints other than GORD were enrolled using convenience sampling method. To assess concurrent validity, patients with GORD completed the Persian GERD-HRQL and the WHO Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaires. To assess discriminant validity, GERD-HRQL scores were compared between GORD and non-GORD patients. After 2 weeks, the patients with GORD completed the GERD-HRQL questionnaire again to assess test–retest reliability. The internal consistency was measured using Cronbach’s alpha.ResultsThe mean age of the GORD participants was 36.90±10.44, and the majority were women (78%). All GERD-HRQL domains and total scores exhibited significant negative correlations with WHOQOL-BREF domains (ranging from −0.28 to −0.97). The GERD-HRQL scores were significantly different in GORD and non-GORD patients (p