A systematic review of the cross-cultural adaptations and measurement properties of the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index

Introduction The shoulder is the leading site of musculoskeletal pain. Patient-reported outcomes, such as the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), allow us to assess shoulder pain in a clinical setting. Since the SPADI was developed in English, many cultures have cross-culturally adapted the SPADI for clinical use. The purpose of this review was to assess the translation and cross-cultural adaptation procedures and measurement properties of the adapted SPADI. Methods A systematic review was performed on cultural adaptations of the SPADI accessible through MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE and/or Google Scholar. Included were prospective cohort studies that used an adapted version of the SPADI. All studies were evaluated according to the guidelines for cross-cultural adaptations and the guidelines for measurement properties. Results The search retrieved 19 studies that met the inclusion criteria. According to the recommended guidelines for cross-cultural adaptations, 16 studies performed 100% of the steps and 1 study performed 80% of the steps. When evaluating the studies’ psychometric properties based on the quality criteria, none of the studies reported all recommended measurement properties. The measurement property of reliability was reported fully by 74% of studies. Internal consistency was fully reported by 74% of studies. None of the studies were able to fully report responsiveness, agreement and/or construct validity. Conclusions Whilst the majority of studies followed proper translation procedures, testing of the measurement properties were inadequate. Therefore, it is recommended that the current adapted versions of the SPADI undergo further evaluation before use in clinical practice.