Aims:
Malnutrition remains a prevalent issue for people with cancer. Evidence-based guidelines recommend all patients with cancer be screened for nutrition risk to support early identification and treatment of malnutrition. The Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST), commonly used in Australian cancer services is only available in English. Almost one quarter of Victorian residents are born overseas, therefore translation and cultural adaptation of this tool is vital to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse patients. This study reports on the translation, cultural adaptation and creation of an interactive online version of the MST.
Methods:
Data from the 2013-2017 Victorian Admissions Episode Dataset were analysed to determine the top 10 languages other than English spoken by cancer patients. Translation and cultural adaptation of the MST and audio scripts were undertaken using the best-practice method of; cultural review, forward translation, community review, consolidation and quality review. Industry professionals were sourced to create the audio files and interactive online tool. Multiple stakeholders were invited to provide feedback on clarity, comprehension and dialects via a 5-point Likert scale.
Results:
The online interactive MST was well received by stakeholders (n=18; 4 consumer representatives, 4 bilingual health professionals, 10 NAATI accredited translators) in the quality test. One-hundred percent of NAATI accredited translators were very satisfied with the dialects and overall clarity of the tool. All consumer representatives and bilingual health professionals indicated the question/answer options and audio files were easy to comprehend. Minor errors with the Mandarin and Turkish translations were identified and rectified. The tool is freely available on the Peter Mac website.
Conclusion:
The MST was successfully translated, culturally adapted and converted into an online version for 10 languages other than English. Patient recruitment is currently underway to test the feasibility of use and clinical utility in usual care across four Victorian health services.