ORIGINAL PAPER Transcultural validation of the 5-Item Dry Eye Questionnaire for the Mexican population Jaime D. Martinez . Anat Galor . Guillermo Amescua . Nallely Ramos-Betancourt . Francisco Beltra ´n . Alejandro Babaya ´n Sosa . Concepcio ´n Santacruz Valde ´s . Cecilia Ramı ´rez-Assad . Elsa Mora Jua ´rez . Everardo Herna ´ndez-Quintela Received: 21 March 2018 / Accepted: 31 December 2018 Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract Purpose To translate and validate a Spanish-lan- guage adaptation of the 5-Item Dry Eye Questionnaire for the Mexican population. Methods Based on the MAPI Institute guidelines, the linguistic validation procedures consisted of four steps. Every step was reviewed by the committee. The translated validated questionnaire was applied to 25 Mexican subjects. The questionnaires were completed by the same subjects at three time points, 8 h apart on the same day and then 3 days later. Sensitivity and specificity of the DEQ-5 to predict DE signs was subsequently estimated in 200 patients see in the Asociacio ´n para Evitar la Ceguera ophthalmology clinic. Results During the forward translation step analysis, the committee decided to change the severity scale, as the words‘‘constantly’’ and ‘‘frequently’’ are synony- mous in Spanish, so it was modified by changing ‘‘constantly’’ to ‘‘always’’ for better understanding. Overall, the intra-test intra-class correlation coeffi- cient from tests administered on the same day was 0.9 (95% CI 0.77–0.95, p = 0.0005). The intra-test intra- class correlation coefficient from tests administered 3 days apart was 0.9 (95% CI 0.88–0.97, p = 0.0005). When applying the questionnaire to 200 patients seen in an eye clinic, we found a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 31% for a DEQ-5 score of C 6, against 2 or more positive signs of dry eye. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-018-01068-3) con- tains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. J. D. Martinez Á N. Ramos-Betancourt Á F. Beltra ´n Á E. Herna ´ndez-Quintela (&) Cornea and Refractive Surgery Department, Asociacio ´n Para Evitar la Ceguera (APEC), Universidad Nacional Auto ´noma de Me ´xico, #46 Vicente Garcı ´a Torres, Delegacio ´n Coyoaca ´n, 04030 Me ´xico City, Me ´xico e-mail: evehq@yahoo.com A. Galor Ophthalmology Department, Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, FL, USA J. D. Martinez Á A. Galor Á G. Amescua Cornea and Ocular Surface Service, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA A. Babaya ´n Sosa Cornea and Refractive Surgery Department, Fundacio ´n Hospital ‘‘Nuestra Sen ˜ora de la Luz’’ IAP, Me ´xico City, Me ´xico C. Santacruz Valde ´s Cornea and Refractive Surgery Department, Instituto de Oftalmologı ´a Fundacio ´n Conde de Valenciana, Me ´xico City, Me ´xico C. Ramı ´rez-Assad Rheumatology and Systemic Vasculitis, Hospital Christus Muguerza Saltillo, Coahuila, Me ´xico 123 Int Ophthalmol https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-018-01068-3