Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Physical Therapy for Surgery

Purpose: To assess validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the Upper Limb Lymphedema -27 Questionnaire in Post Mastectomy Patients. Methods: The study was performed in two steps: The first was the translation of Upper Limb Lymphedema -27 Questionnaire into Arabic and performing cultural adaptation. The second was the assessment of its psychometric properties for the Egyptian population. 52 Egyptian female patients with upper limb lymphedema were asked to fill the Upper Limb Lymphedema -27 Questionnaire, with average two weeks interval, they were asked to re-fill the questionnaire for test re-test reliability. Reliability was investigated for repeatability and internal consistency.10 experts were asked to complete the Index of Content Validity (ICV) to evaluate the content validity. Results:The internal consistency of Upper Limb Lymphedema-27 Questionnaire was assessed by Cronbach alpha coefficient.The Cronbach's alpha was good (Ü= 0.88).Spearman{u2019}s correlation coefficient was carried out to investigate the correlation between the first and second measurements. Test-retest reliability was assessed using Spearman{u2019}s correlation coefficient.Correlation between first and second measurements was strong positive correlations (r = 0.81, p = 0.0001). Content validity was assessed by Index of Content Validity.The upper limb lymphedema-27 questionnaire demonstrated excellent content validity, as the scale CVI (S-CVI = 0.96).Conclusion: This study concluded that the Arabic version of the Upper Limb Lymphedema -27 Questionnaire is a valid and reliable measure of quality of life for Egyptian female patients with upper limbpost-mastectomy lymphedema

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