Patient Concerns Inventory for Arabic Patients with Head and Neck Cancer: A Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Preliminary Validation

INTRODUCTION: Head and neck cancer (HNC) treatments often lead to significant post-treatment side effects that affect patients' quality of life. This study aimed to translate and validate the post-treatment Patient Concerns Inventory for head and neck (PCI-HN) into Arabic among HNC survivors. METHODS: This study employed a cross-sectional design, where PCI-HN was translated and assessed for content and face validity by clinical experts and patients, respectively. Revisions to multiple items related to 'social and religious welfare'. Patients' responses were then analysed to assess internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest reliability (Cohen's Kappa). RESULTS: Thirty-eight participants (19 males, 19 females, mean age 50.68 ± 16.13 years) were included. The Arabic PCI-HN demonstrated good overall internal consistency (α = 0.723) but fair test-retest agreement (κ = 0.22), likely reflecting dynamic changes in HNC post-treatment experiences. CONCLUSION: The Ar-PCI-HN can be a helpful instrument for capturing distinct aspects of the survivorship experience among Arabic-speaking HNC survivors. Determining the clinical interpretability and ability to detect changes over time requires further multi-centre and multi-country clinical studies. This would be necessary to ensure its integration into routine outpatient consultations for Arabic-speaking patients in Arab countries and globally.