Translation, cultural adaptation, and validation of the 10-year Fracture Risk Assessment Tool into Filipino

Introduction: Screening tools for osteoporosis are relatively expensive and inaccessible to the general Filipino population. This study aims to develop a Filipino version of a validated measure, the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX), in order to facilitate improvement of fracture prevention care in the country. Methods: The FRAX was translated and culturally adapted into a Filipino version using established forward and backward translation methods and was succeedingly tested for equivalence to the original. The final version was administered to 120 outpatients and was tested for reliability using peripheral dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements of the distal radius. Results: To be better understood and reliably answered by the Filipino population, several qualifiers were added to items such as previous fracture and rheumatoid arthritis. This was to account for the high incidence of high-energy trauma in the country and the use of the same Filipino term for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as with other arthritides, respectively. Conclusion: The Filipino version of the FRAX appears to be an acceptable and reliable instrument, serving as a low-cost alternative to bone mineral density (BMD) and DXA scans which are generally inaccessible and unaffordable by majority of the populations.