Equivalence of Chinese version of the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory.
OBJECTIVE
This paper is a report of a study undertaken to translate the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory from the original English into a Chinese language version and to establish the content, semantic and technical equivalence of the Chinese version.


BACKGROUND
Ensuring the equivalence of a translated Chinese version of the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory for patients with dementia is an essential requirement for identifying culturally specific expressions of agitated behaviours.


METHODS
In Phase I, five experts scrutinized the Inventory items to determine whether the behaviour described was relevant to the agitated behaviours present in the Taiwanese culture. In Phase II, experts did the initial translation into Chinese and then back-translated it into English. Four bilingual observers rated 31 residents with dementia to determine semantic equivalence across versions. In Phase III, the agitated behaviours of 32 residents were assessed by four observers using staff ratings and direct observation to determine the technical equivalence of the Chinese version. The study was carried out in Taiwan from August 2004 to April 2005.


RESULTS
In Phase I, the rating of behaviours described on the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory was relevant to the agitated behaviours based on Taiwanese culture with a content validity index (CVI) value of 0.993. In Phase II, intra-class coefficients for all items on the Chinese version and split-halves of Chinese and English versions ranged from 0.69 to 0.74. In Phase III, six possible results for estimation of reliability across methods and raters for the Chinese version ranged from 0.63 to 0.86.


CONCLUSIONS
The Chinese Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory had modest psychometric properties. Further studies are needed to assess criterion and conceptual equivalence.
Lin
Li-Chan
LC
Institute of Clinical Nursing, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. lichan@ym.edu.tw
Kao
Chieh-Chun
CC
Tzeng
Yu-Ling
YL
Lin
Yeh-Jen
YJ
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires