[A tool for cross-cultural psychiatry research: a pilot study of adaptation of 12-item Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ-12) for Chinese population in Italy].

INTRODUCTION

The Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ-12) is a research instrument, modeled after the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), aimed at assessing in a culturally appropriate way the psychological distress in Chinese-speaking populations.

AIMS

The authors present the adaptation of a bilingual Chinese/Italian version of CHQ-12 suitable for Chinese population in Italy.

METHODS

CHQ-12 text was first converted in simplified Chinese characters and adapted to the language spoken by Chinese living in Italy, then, following a "forward-backward" translation procedure an Italian version was obtained. Content equivalence was assessed by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient between the Italian and Chinese version. The reliability was assessed by calculating test-retest stability and internal consistency. Validity was assessed using convergent validity.

RESULTS

The content equivalence was high (intraclass correlation 0.99) and reliability analysis showed satisfactory results (Cronbach alpha for internal consistency 0.84, intraclass correlation for test-retest stability 0.87, Spearman rho for convergent validity 0.63).

CONCLUSIONS

The bilingual Chinese/Italian version of CHQ-12 shows good reliability and validity and can be considered a suitable instrument for cross-cultural research on psychological distress in Chinese living in Italy.