Psychometrics of the chronic liver disease questionnaire for Southern Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.
OBJECTIVE
To test the psychometric properties of a Chinese [(Hong Kong) HK] translation of the chronic liver disease questionnaire (CLDQ).


METHODS
A Chinese (HK) translation of the CLDQ was developed by iterative translation and cognitive debriefing. It was then administered to 72 uncomplicated and 78 complicated chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients in Hong Kong together with a structured questionnaire on service utilization, and the Chinese (HK) SF-36 Health Survey Version 2 (SF-36v2).


RESULTS
Scaling success was > or = 80% for all but three items. A new factor assessing sleep was found and items of two (Fatigue and Systemic Symptoms) subscales tended to load on the same factor. Internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities ranged from 0.58-0.90 for different subscales. Construct validity was confirmed by the expected correlations between the SF-36v2 Health Survey and CLDQ scores. Mean scores of CLDQ were significantly lower in complicated compared with uncomplicated CHB, supporting sensitivity in detecting differences between groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The Chinese (HK) CLDQ is valid, reliable and sensitive for patients with CHB. Some modifications to the scaling structure might further improve its psychometric properties.
Lam
Elegance Ting Pui
ET
Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. etplam@gmail.com
Lam
Cindy Lo Kuen
CL
Lai
Ching Lung
CL
Yuen
Man Fung
MF
Fong
Daniel Yee Tak
DY
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*