Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties’ evaluation of the modern standard Arabic version of Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT) in professional athletes

Purpose: To cross-culturally adapt the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool into modern standard Arabic and to assess its psychometric properties. Method: Cross-cultural adaptation followed a combination of guidelines and for psychometric evaluation a sample of 107 athletes as recruited. All recommended measurement properties by the Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement Instruments were evaluated, including face, structural, convergent, and discriminant validity; reproducibility; distribution-based responsiveness, and interpretability. We also used a structured content analytic method to evaluate content validity. Results: The tool presented excellent internal consistency (α = 0.92) and reliability (ICC 0.75–0.98), and good convergent validity compared with Lower Extremity Functional Scale (ρ = 0.67). For reproducibility testing: Minimal detectable change ranged from 0.41 to 6.0 points; for responsiveness assessment: the effect sizes were large (Glass’Δ range 2.03–2.08, Cohen’s d range 2.22 to 2.53) and the Area under the Curve was 0.869. Its unidimensionality was proved by a 1-factor solution explaining 63.8% of the variance. Conclusion: The Arabic version of Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool presented acceptable psychometric properties comparable to the original version. The questionnaire is understood across most of the Arabic speaking world and can be used in research and clinical practice to assess patients suffering from chronic ankle instability.