Background: The burden of breast cancer-related lymphoedema (BCRL) is considerable in India. One of the common side effects of breast cancer treatment is breast cancer-related lymphoedema (BCRL). BCRL is associated with many symptoms such as swelling, heaviness, tightness, pain and discomfort and poor quality of life. The Breast Cancer-related Lymphoedema Symptom Experience Index (BCLE-SEI) captures the presence of BCRL-related symptoms and their severity and distress the symptoms cause the patient. Adequate psychometric properties of the BCLE had been established in English, Chinese and electronic versions, particularly for structural validity, Internal consistency, and test-retest reliability.
Purpose: However, the BCLE-SEI is unavailable in Hindi, the third most commonly spoken language globally.
Method: The BCLE-SEI was translated back-translated, and the equivalence of the consolidated back translation was checked following established guidelines. The Hindi version of the BCLE-SEI was then validated in 170 women with or at risk of developing breast cancer-related lymphoedema. The content validity, exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, known group validity, and hypothesis testing are being analysed.
Results: The content validity of the BCLE-SEI Hindi was sufficient. The comprehensibility, comprehensiveness and items' relevance were confirmed by 97, 98 and 99% of the participants, respectively. The results of the exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, known group validity and hypothesis testing of the symptom severity and the symptom impact subscale will be presented.
Conclusion: The validity and reliability of the BCLE-SEI Hindi will be reported in measuring the symptom experience of women with or at risk of breast cancer-related lymphoedema in the Hindi-speaking population.