Reliability and validity of a Chinese version's health-related quality of life questionnaire for hepatitis B patients

Abstract

Objectives: To culturally adapt a Chinese version of the Hepatitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (HQLQ) and assess its suitability for use in Chinese-speaking hepatitis B virus (HBV patients in Singapore. Study: Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients and intra-class correlation coefficients. Item-to-scale correlation was assessed using Spearman's rank correlations (ρ) between scale scores and their constituent items. Convergent and divergent construct validities were tested in three and two a priori hypotheses, respectively, and the correlations were assessed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficients. Results: When tested in 134 HBV patients, the test-retest reliability was supported with all scales showing acceptable correlation coefficients (i.e., α > 0.7). Item-to-scale correlations were good with most items highly correlated with their hypothesized scales. Convergent and divergent construct validities were supported by the hypothesized correlations between the HQLQ and the EQ-5D domains. Conclusions: The culturally adapted questionnaire has good validity and reliability for use in Singapore. © 2009, International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR).