HUInc Health-Related Quality of Life Research HEALTH UTILITIES INC

Questionnaire Development,
Translations and Support

Canada United Kingdom United States of America España/Spain Argentina Nederland/The Netherlands République Française/France Germany Italy Sverige/Sweden Portugal
All standard HUInc. questionnaires were first developed in the English language. These questionnaires were written in simple, but formal English (e.g., avoiding the use of complex words, phrases and local idioms). They have been used successfully, without modification, in Canada, the U.K., the U.S.A., and Australia. We do not recommend that standard HUInc. English language "base" questionnaires be modified or adapted for use in these countries.

Unlike many HRQL measurement systems, the HUI is not a single questionnaire. HUInc. distributes and supports more than 16 standard questionnaire versions in English. A specific version is determined by a number of factors including: Mode of Administration (self- or interviewer-administered); Length of Health-status recall period (1-week, 2-weeks, 4-weeks, or Usual health); and Assessment Viewpoint (Self-assessment or Proxy-assessment). See Other Languages below for a list of language versions available or in preparation. Please note: Not all 16 standard variations are available in all languages.
(See References for a list of countries where the HUI has or is being used.)
Questionnaires distributed by HUInc. are the product of close collaboration between staff of HUInc. and translators whose mother-tongue is the language and culture of the target language. The HUInc. standard translation process is founded on published guidelines for translation and cultural adaptation of HRQL questionnaires (Guillemin et al., 19931). The translation/adaptation procedure varies with situation/timelines/resources/existing materials. For each language there are usually two 'primary' translators involved in creating 'forward' translations of the "base" questionnaire. HUInc. provides each translator, or group of translators, with background information about the conceptual framework of the health status classification system, a copy of the original English language questionnaire, and information based on experience from previous translations to aid in the cultural adaptation of the questionnaires. Once a consensus preliminary forward translation is complete, HUInc. staff review each question of the translation for content, constructs and format with the primary translators and arrange for revisions as required. HUInc. also arranges for the English and translated questionnaires to be reviewed by 'secondary' translators and 'back' translations to be made of the primary translated version. All back translations are reviewed by HUInc. staff who determine the choice of wording best suited for the specific translation based on all available information. All back-translation commentary is forwarded to the original translation team for review. Edits to the target language version are made as necessary and the final draft version is formated to a HUInc standard template. This version is then tested in the target language population for cultural-language reliability. Any final revisions are made and HUInc prepares a "master" copy of the translated questionnaire.

HUInc. is the exclusive distributor of HUI questionnaires and grants permission for use of its proprietary materials one study at a time. Proprietary materials (e.g., questionnaires and coding algorithms and procedure manuals) may not be used or altered or sold or distributed or translated or adapted into another medium (e.g., computer or world-wide web) without written permission from HUInc. HUInc. holds the copyright on all translated versions of its questionnaires.

Other Languages: Versions of the HUI questionnaire are available or in preparation in; Afrikaans, Bulgarian, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified characters), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Flemish, French (continental or European French and French-Canadian), German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (European and Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish (European and Mexico, Latin and South American), Swedish, Tamil, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.Please contact HUInc for the most up-to-date list of available languages and versions. Please note: Not all 16 standard variations are available in all languages.
I questionari sono disponibili anche in italiano.
Les questionnaires sont disponibles aussi en français.
Los cuestionaries están también disponibles en español.
Die Umfragen sind auch auf Deutsch erhältlich.
NOTE: Not all variations are available in all languages. Please contact the HUInc Service Centre for current version availability in specific languages.

Portugal Sweden/Sverige Italy Germany France/République Française The Netherlands/Nederland Argentina Spain/España United States of America United Kingdom Canada

1 Guillemin et al., Cross-cultural adaptation of health-related quality of life measures: literature review and proposed guidelines. J.Clin Epidemiol 46(12),1993: pp1417-1432.

Follow the links for detailed information on the HUI2 and HUI3 classification systems;
Selecting a Self- or Interviewer Administered questionnaire format;
Reviewing the Table of Contents/Introduction of the HUI Self-Complete Questionnaire manual;
Completing the on-line Application Form to contact the HUI Service Centre
    with your study-particulars and allow your HUInc representative help you
    choose the HUI instrument that meets your needs.

Information on the use of copyrighted HUI questionnaires, algorithms, & supporting materials, and a price list for HUI services may be obtained from:

William Furlong
Health Utilities Inc.
88 Sydenham Street
Dundas, Ontario L9H 2V3 Canada
E-Mail: HUInquiry@healthutilities.com

Mary Gauld
Operations Coordinator, HUInc Service Centre
Telephone: (905) 929-4842 Tuesday & Thursday 9:30am-2:30pm
E-Mail: HUInsight@healthutilities.com


HUInc  Leaders in the Utility Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life
(R) HUI Registration:  USA 2660116, 2716082;  UK 2228611, 2228610;  CAN TMA544008, TMA550246.
HUI pages last updated - April 2018
HUI Webpages designed and maintained by Mary Gauld
© Copyright HUInc 1999-2018. All rights reserved.