Preliminary Evidence on the Measurement Properties of the Chinese Version of the Child Health Questionnaire, Parent Form (CHQ-PF50) and Child Form (CHQ-CF87)

• Published in: Quality of life research Vol. 14; no. 7; pp. 1775 - 1781
• Main Authors: Ng, J Y Y, Landgraf, J M, Chiu, C S W, Cheng, N L, Cheung, Y F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Springer 01.09.2005; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Brief Communications; Child; Child Welfare; Child, Preschool; Children; Childrens health; China; Discriminants; Feasibility Studies; Female; Health Status Indicators; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Pain; Parents; Parents - psychology; Pediatrics; Pilot Projects; Psychometrics; Psychometrics - instrumentation; Quality of Life; Questionnaires; Secondary schools; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Validation studies; Validity; China
• ISSN: 0962-9343; 1573-2649
• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-005-1005-1

The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability and construct validity of the Chinese parent form (PF50) and child form (CF87) of the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ). Methods: To assess the construct validity and reliability of the Chinese versions, we invited 1099 parents of healthy children and 816 school children to complete the Chinese CHQ-PF50 and CHQ-CF87, respectively. Results: Psychometric analysis on item convergent validity and discriminant validity showed ≥99% rates of success for all 10 scales in the CF87 and ≥94% for all but one scale in the PF50, the exception being general health scale (86%). We observed minimal floor effects for both questionnaires, but substantial ceiling effects for five scales in both the PF50 and CF87 (physical functioning, role-emotional/behavioral, role-physical, bodily pain and family activities). A substantially lower ceiling effect was observed for the physical scale and bodily pain in the CF87 (19% and 25%, respectively) relative to the PF50 (46% and 42%, respectively). The median alpha coefficient for CF87 and PF50 was 0.90 (range, 0.80-0.94) and 0.78 (range, 0.44-0.88), respectively. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the Chinese CHQ-PF50 and CHQ-CF87 are robust and sufficiently reliable for group comparisons and perhaps also for use in other Chinese populations.