Translation and Validation of Tamil Pain Neuroscience Education (Pne) in Individuals with Chronic Low Back Pain

Abstract

 Introduction: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is one of the most common musculoskeletal diseases, affecting 10.1-55.2%
of the global population. Pain neuroscience education (PNE) is a strategy that teaches patients to rethink how they
view pain. Tamil is India’s most widely used language, spoken by 6.9 billion people.
Methods: The study is conducted in two phases. Phase I - translation of the English version of PNE into the Tamil version
was accomplished in six stages (forward translation, synthesis of Tamil version, backward translation, expert committee
review, test of the preliminary back translated Tamil version, submission and appraisal of all the written reports- pilot
testing of PNE); phase ii – testing the validity of the Tamil version was done by assessing the psychometric properties
(test-retest reliability, internal consistency, content validity) of the prefinal Tamil version of pain neuroscience PNE
education.
Results: In round 1, a questionnaire with 42 questions was mailed to the panellists, and 40 questions reached a
consensus. Round 2 consisted of 2 questions, and all reached a consensus. In round 3, a model Tamil was framed based
on a literature search, previous rounds’ results, and panellists’ suggestions. This was sent to panellists, who were asked
to provide their opinions on the framed protocol. The results of all three rounds framed the final framework of Tamil
pne under 7 sections.
Conclusion: In this study, a structured Tamil PNE was framed under 7 sections that the therapist can use clinically to
make the patients understand the pain in Tamil. Thus, Tamil can break the language barrier in Tamil individuals with
chronic lower back pain.