Development and validation of a Chinese version chronic wound health-related quality of life instrument: A methodological study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To develop a Chinese version of a chronic wound health-related quality of life (QoL) instrument and to examine the psychometric properties of this instrument.

BACKGROUND

Existing QoL instruments are not tailored to the linguistic and cultural characteristics of Chinese-speaking patients; a version addressing this gap will increase clinical understanding of their healthcare experience and may help guide chronic wound care.

DESIGN

A methodological study.

METHODS

The method advanced by DeVellis (2017) was used to develop the instrument. An initial pool of 38 items was created. To optimize scale length and test reliability and validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. A total of 23 items formed the final pool. After two rounds of expert discussions, the average content validity index of the final 23 items was .89.

RESULTS

A total of 226 patients completed the instrument and were divided into two groups for further analysis. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that 15 items remained in four factors (social activity restrictions, physical and psychological disturbance, wound burden and daily life limitation), which accounted for 64.87% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed an acceptable fit of the hypothesized factor structure and the convergent and discriminant validities were achieved. Cronbach's α coefficients for each factor were .807, .773, .799 and .713, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The Chinese version of a chronic wound health-related QoL instrument consists of 15 items in four subscales and demonstrates good reliability and validity.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

This instrument can be used intermittently or continuously to evaluate the treatment effect of chronic wounds by assessing health-related QoL. Scholars in Chinese-speaking regions may find this culturally compatible instrument useful when conducting studies related to chronic wounds.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

Two hundred twenty-six participants provided their perspectives on health-related QoL.