OBJECTIVES:

Recently there has been an increase in the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ approach to clinical studies as a means of participants carrying out Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) on their own smartphones or smartwatches. The aim of this study is to evaluate the risks in translating smartphone strings used in such apps and to highlight solutions in conveying the context of individual strings. We will focus on a study related to mobility being translated into France-French.

METHODS:

This Linguistic Validation project underwent the following steps outlined by the ISPOR Principles of Good Practice: Preparation (including concept elaboration); Dual Forward Translation; Reconciliation; Editing; Dual Back Translation; Back Translation Review and Proofreading. During Back Translation Review, the risks in translating smartphone strings were analysed, establishing which translations needed further clarification and updates.

RESULTS:

When reviewing the Back Translations, 7% of items required updates. Of these; 82% were misinterpretations of the source due to lack of context and 18% were formatting updates to ensure the translations were short enough to fit within a smartphone screen.

Without being able to refer to the English source in screenshot form, translating these smartphone strings into French presented two specific areas of risks. 1) Many translations were too long due to additional clarifications being required in French. 2) French occasionally required several translations depending on the specific context of each source string (e.g. ‘skip’ was both ‘ignoré’ and ‘non prise’).

CONCLUSIONS:

To provide clear and accurate text for the app, it is important to provide linguists with screenshots and concept elaborations from project initiation. This aids the linguist to retain the appropriate character length for the smart-device displays. French texts often require elaboration so developers should consider flexibility and precision of language when developing the app. Both elements ensure accurate Linguistic Validation of smartphone strings and a reduced need for edits.