title: A short version of a HRQoL questionnaire for Italian and Japanese patients with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The available self-report questionnaire for the quality of life in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC-40) is currently validated only in the British population but it lacks an evaluation of its dimensionality.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To validate the Italian and Japanese versions of PBC-40 and to assess the dimensionality of the original structure of PBC-40 by a confirmatory factor analysis. PBC-40 was translated to Italian and Japanese using the forward-backward method and then reviewed in focus groups in the framework of a large multicentric study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 290 patients with PBC (125 Italian and 165 Japanese) was administered two questionnaires previously validated for PBC-specific (PBC-40) and general quality of life (SF-36).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The confirmatory model failed to fit adequately the original hypothesized structure. A principal component analysis led to a seven-factor structure, with exclusion of 13 items characterized by lower load; PBC-27 questionnaire was the final instrument. The validity of the PBC-27 was supported by its strong correlation with the SF-36 scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We here propose an alternative structure of the quality of life questionnaire for PBC, namely PBC-27, which appears to be effective in detecting the impact of PBC on quality of life in Italian and Japanese patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Montali
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Riva
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cocchi
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miglioretti
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takikawa
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vecchio
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frigerio
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jorgensen
authors.forename: Keith D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Lindor
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Podda
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Invernizzi
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008105:Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires