In response to the increasing interest in cross-cultural issues in relation to international patient-reported outcomes (PRO) research, ISOQoL set up a special interest group in the field of translation and cultural adaptation in 2004.  The group is chaired by Katrin Conway and Donald Patrick and has three major objectives: (1) to identify and advance research in the field of translation and cultural adaptation of PRO instruments, (2) to provide an evidence database on translation and cultural adaptation of PROs and (3) to promote the visibility of cross-cultural issues in development and use of PROs in ISOQoL.

To achieve its overall goals the group has recently been restructured and is divided into the following 3 subgroups:

1. Cross-cultural issues subgroup led by Sonya Eremenco ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )  with the objective of addressing cross-cultural issues related to the access of copyrighted instruments,  the translation of PROs and their use in e-format.
 
2. Translation Methodology subgroup led by Mona Martin  ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) with the objective of identifying, prioritizing and pursuing a research agenda for the development of methodologies in the field of translations and cross-cultural research.  The key current project of this subgroup is the setting-up of a translation certification programme within ISOQoL to address the quality of the translation methodology required for PRO instruments in the field of outcomes research and certify PRO translations for use in clinical trials.
  
3. Pooling of cross-cultural data subgroup led by Donald Patrick ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) with the objective of investigating methods for analyzing the ability to pool PRO data across all language versions and cultural groups in a clinical trail or PRO investigation and of developing criteria for when pooling is not justified.

The TCA-SIG will provide an update on its activities at its annual meeting during the ISOQoL conference in New Orleans (28-31 October). To become a member of one of the subgroups or to receive more detailed information, please contact the subgroup leaders or consult the ISOQoL website (http://www.isoqol.org/) and search under “Special Interest Groups”.