Italian Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of S3-NIV Questionnaire for Patients on Long-Term Home Noninvasive Mechanical Ventilation

Introduction: Long-term home noninvasive ventilation (LTH-NIV) supports patients with chronic respiratory failure. The S3-NIV questionnaire is an easy and quick tool to evaluate outpatients initiated to home mechanical ventilation. The aim of our study was to translate and validate the Italian version of the S3-NIV questionnaire and test its internal consistency and factorial structure, providing with Italian cultural adaptation of the original S3-NIV questionnaire. Methods: This is a prospective, national, observational, multicenter study enrolling consecutive outpatients accessing between December 2023 and June 2024 to a dedicated ambulatory for chronic respiratory failure requiring LTH-NIV for different underlying diseases (i.e., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, neuromuscular disorders, obesity hypoventilation syndrome). Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Results: The translation and back-translation process from the English version was performed. A total of 228 out of 340 screened patients were enrolled Internal consistency of the total score was good (Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.84) as well as for the "respiratory symptoms" and the 'sleep and side effects' subdomains (0.82 and 0.74, respectively). Kaiser exploratory analysis confirmed good homogeneity: 0.85. Conclusion: The S3-NIV questionnaire Italian translation and cultural adaptation has good global reliability and internal consistency. This tool has been confirmed to be a simple, quickly available, and easy-to-use tool for the outpatients' clinical assessment of stable patients with chronic respiratory failure initiated on LTH-NIV.The aim of this study was to use a questionnaire in the outpatient setting in order to assist patients with chronic respiratory failure who have start home mechanical ventilation. This questionnaire is short and easy to use; we have translated it and made a cultural adaptation.