Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to translate the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) into Urdu language and to test the validity, and reliability of the LCQ into Urdu version called LCQ-U, in those patients who have chronic respiratory conditions.

Method:  The original LCQ was translated into Urdu version by a process, following the forward-backward translation method, reviewed by 10 experts, pretested for lingual problems and assessed in 17 patients with chronic respiratory conditions. To test reliability, the LCQ-U was repeated after 2 weeks. The cough severity was also assessed by using the Cough visual analogue scale.

Results: Analysis of concurrent validity showed that LCQ has a strong negative correlation with the Cough Visual Analogue Scale (r = - 0.89, P>0.05). The LCQ-U indicated a strong correlation (r = 0.965, P<0.01) and strong test-retest reliability (ICC₁ = 0.920, ICC₂ = 0.920, P<0.01). Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found 0.922 on 1^st visit and 0.921 on 2^nd visit respectively. The content validity index scoring was estimated as S-CVI/UA = 0.89, S-CVI/Av = 0.98).

Conclusion: The Urdu version of LCQ is a valid and reliable tool that can be used in different clinical settings to assess the chronic cough of patients with chronic respiratory conditions.