A prospective pilot investigation of the Zulu translation of the Roland-Morris questionnaire with respect to its concurrent validity when compared to its English counterpart

Background: Lower back pain is a common problem, globally, as well as in South Africa. Zulu is the first language of a very large proportion of the South African population, and as such, addressing the needs of this population group with respect to lower back pain is a priority. Many reliable pain indexes exist in English to record the degree of disability with regard to Lower back pain. These are invaluable tools in aiding the health practitioner to assess the progress of treatment and the severity of the patient’s disability. One of the most creditable and frequently used indexes is the Roland – Morris Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire. However, no such scale exists in Zulu Objective: The purpose of this investigation was, firstly, to interpret the data from the statistical tests for discordance in order to assess whether the face validated Zulu translation of the questionnaire (ZRM1.1) is sensitive and specific enough for use as a tool in data collection, when compared to the English version (ERM). Secondly, to make recommendations for further improvement in terms of the ZRM1.1.