Chinese version of the Parent-Proxy Health-Related Quality
of Life Measure for Children with Epilepsy: Translation,
cross-cultural adaptation, and reliability studies
Winnie K.L. Yam
a,
*
, Susanna M.K. Chow
b
, Gabriel M. Ronen
c
a
Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
b
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
c
Department of Paediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont., Canada
Received 11 January 2005; revised 30 March 2005; accepted 18 May 2005
Available online 18 August 2005
Abstract
Purpose. The goal of this article is to report on the translation and reliability studies of the Parent-Proxy Response Scale of Qual-
ity of Life Measure for Children with Epilepsy for Hong Kong Chinese children.
Methods. In phase 1, forward and backward translations, expert panel review, and a series of pilot testing, cognitive interview-
ing, and pretesting with parents produced a Chinese translation. Content validity of the translated instrument was assessed. In phase
2, internal consistency was evaluated in 40 parents of children with epilepsy aged 8 to 18. Test–retest reliability was studied in 33
parents.
Results. The translation was judged to have good content validity by experts and was acceptable to parents. Internal consistency
was good (Cronbach a = 0.71–0.92). Test–retest reliability, determined with the intraclass correlation coefficient, ranged between
0.51 and 0.84.
Conclusions. Our data suggest acceptable content validity, internal consistency, and reliability of the Chinese version of the Par-
ent-Proxy Response Scale of the Quality of Life Measure for Children with Epilepsy. Studies with larger samples should be per-
formed to further confirm other psychometric properties of the translated instrument.
Ó 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Quality of life; Child; Chinese; Parent
1. Introduction
Epilepsy is one of the most prevalent and important
neurological conditions in childhood. The prevalence
rate of childhood epilepsy in Hong Kong (population
of 6.8 million) has not been reported, but the prevalence
rate reported in population-based studies in developed
countries is 3.6 to 4.2 per 1000 children [1,2]. Epilepsy
is a chronic condition that has significant association
with poor psychosocial outcome [3]. To optimize the
psychosocial outcome, health-related quality-of-life
measures have been increasingly used to capture dimen-
sions that are important to the individual [3]. As these
dimensions are different in children and adolescents
when compared with adults, having an instrument that
can accurately assess the quality of life in children and
adolescents with epilepsy will enable clinicians to identi-
fy areas of concern and evaluate the impact of different
interventions [4]. The validity of this evaluation process
depends on the use of instruments with proven psycho-
metric properties, including strictly researched content
validity of the items and domains. At least eight
1525-5050/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2005.05.006
*
Corresponding author. Fax: +852 2689 2096.
E-mail address: wklyam@hotmail.com (W.K.L. Yam).
www.elsevier.com/locate/yebeh
Epilepsy & Behavior 7 (2005) 697–707