Background: The Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ) evaluates the effectiveness of health education and self-management programs provided to people dealing with a wide range of conditions. Aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt and validate the Dutch translation of the heiQ and to compare the results with the English, German and French translations.

Methods: A systematic translation process was undertaken. Psychometric properties were studied among patients with arthritis, atopic dermatitis, food allergy and asthma (n=286). Factorial validity using confirmatory factor analysis, item difficulty (D), item remainder correlation and composite reliability were conducted. Stability was tested using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC).

Results: Items were well understood and only minor language adjustments were required. Confirmatory fit indices were >0.95 and item difficulty was D≥0.65 for all items in scales showing acceptable fit indices, except for the reversed Emotional distress scale. Composite reliability ranged between 0.67 and 0.85. Test-retest reliability (n=93) ICC varied between 0.61 and 0.84. Comparisons with other translations showed comparable fit indices. A lower ICC on Self-monitoring and insight scale was observed.

Conclusions: The Dutch translation of the heiQ was found to be well understood and user friendly by patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Atopic Dermatitis, Food allergy and asthma and to have robust psychometric properties for evaluating the impact of health education and self-management programs. Given the wide applications of the heiQ and the comparability of the Dutch results with the English, German and French version, the heiQ is a practical and useful questionnaire to evaluate the impact of self-management support programs in different countries and populations with different diseases.