Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Lingual Validation of the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ)-Specific for Cholesterol Lowering Drugs in the Visegrad Countries
The goal of this study was to translate the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire—Specific
(BMQ-Specific) for cholesterol-lowering drugs, into the Hungarian, Slovak, Czech and Polish
languages and test their reliability with statistical methods. For this purpose, Cronbach’s alpha,
confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were conducted. The analyses included 235 Czech,
205 Hungarian, 200 Polish, and 200 Slovak respondents, all of whom were taking cholesterol-lowering
drugs. The translations from English into the target languages were always done by two independent
translators. As part of the validation process these translations were pilot tested and after the necessary
alterations, they were translated back into English by a third translator. After the approval by the
creator of the questionnaire, nationwide surveys were conducted in all four countries. The results of the
confirmatory factor analysis were exceptionally good for the Czech and Slovak translations, while the
Polish and Hungarian translations marginally crossed the predetermined thresholds. With the
exception of a single Polish question, the results of the exploratory factor analysis were deemed
acceptable. The translated versions of BMQ-Specific are reliable and valid tools to assess patients’
beliefs about medication, especially medication adherence among patients taking cholesterol-lowering
medication. A comparison between the four countries with this questionnaire is now possible