OBJECTIVE Translation into Greek, cross-cultural adaptation and reliability testing of the 7-point Global Perceived Effect Scale (GPES-7) for use with patients with sciatica. METHOD This study was conducted in three stages:The first stage was the translation into Greek, the second stage was cultural adaptation of the GPES-7 for patients with sciatica and the third stage was determination of the test-retest reliability of the GPES-7.Translation was carried out according to published guidelines. A combination of a forward-backward-translation and dual-panel-approach was used. For the cultural adaptation procedure, 15 patients with sciatica took part and for the test-retest reliability procedure, 70 patients. To estimate the test-retest reliability, GPES-7 was administered at baseline and again, three days later, and the Cohen's kappa coefficient analysis was used. RESULTS The translation process was performed without any major difficulties. Taking into account the participants' choices, the final version of the Greek translation of the GPES-7 was agreed upon by the expert panel and an independent physiotherapist. The test-retest reliability of the Greek version of GPES-7 was shown to be excellent (k=0.919; 95% CI: 83.3-92.0). CONCLUSIONS The GPES-7 was successfully translated and culturally adapted into a Greek version, and tested for reliability. The Greek version of GPES-7 (GPES-7 GR) is suggested for use as a reliable quick clinical tool to evaluate the progress of patients with sciatica after treatment.
