The Chinese QOLIE-AD-48: Translation, validity, and reliability
Mengyang Wang
a
, Liwen Wu
a,
*
, Yu Zheng
b
, Quan Zhang
c
, Cheng Li
d
a
Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Peking Union Medical College,
1 Shuai Fu Yuan, Dong Dan, Beijing 100730, China
b
ANZAC Research Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
c
Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, China
d
Center for Vascular Research, Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
article info
Article history:
Received 9 November 2008
Revised 18 December 2008
Accepted 21 December 2008
Available online 18 January 2009
Keywords:
Health-related quality of life
Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory for
Adolescents (QOLIE-AD-48)
Adolescent
Chinese version
abstract
The aim of this study was to translate into Chinese the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory for Adoles-
cents (QOLIE-AD-48) and to evaluate its psychometric properties. After a multistage translation and cul-
tural adaptation, the final Chinese version was administered to 99 adolescents with epilepsy to evaluate
its validity and reliability. Interitem correlations, correlations with the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory
(PedsQL), internal consistency, and sensitivity were examined. Mean total score was 66.1, and all sub-
scales contributed significantly to the summary measure. Considering the validity of the translation, each
item correlated more significantly with its own subscale than with the other subscales, whereas all sub-
scales were substantially correlated with the PedsQL subscales (r = 0.73). The internal consistency coef-
ficients of the subscales ranged between 0.62 and 0.92, and this coefficient was 0.94 for the total. Finally,
the QOLIE-AD-48 could detect differences in quality of life between the subjects. In conclusion, this study
showed that the Chinese QOLIE-AD-48 possesses good validity, reliability, and sensitivity, and is an
appropriate instrument for health-related quality of life assessment in chinese adolescents with epilepsy.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Research on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in adoles-
cents with epilepsy began relatively late in China, even though sig-
nificant advances had been made in Western societies [1]. One
reason for this was the unavailability of valid measures for measur-
ing and evaluating adolescents’ HRQOL in China. However,
although it is important from a cultural perspective for a society
to develop its own measures, the research perspectives are direc-
ted toward cross-cultural settings, with the cross-cultural evalua-
tions becoming integral to the labeling, promotion, and drug
regulatory process concerning HRQOL [2]. This forces a society to
join in the international development of measures or to translate
already developed measures to assess HRQOL reliably and validly
in adolescents with epilepsy.
The Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory for Adolescents (QO-
LIE-AD-48) is the most frequently recommended questionnaire
for measuring HRQOL in youths with epilepsy and has been used
in different studies to date [3–8]. The QOLIE-AD 48 has been vali-
dated in several languages, including Spanish [9], Serbian [10], and
Brazilian Portuguese recently [11], and these translations have
been shown to be as specific and sensitive as the original version.
Until now, a Chinese equivalent of this measure has not been re-
ported, and the aim of this study was to translate and to adapt into
Chinese the QOLIE-AD-48, and to analyze its elementary psycho-
metric properties.
2. Methods
The study was approved by the ethics committee of Peking Un-
ion Medical College Hospital, where it was carried out from August
2007 to April 2008. The developer (Ms. Joyce A. Cramer) provided
the original QOLIE-AD-48 and its scoring manual.
2.1. Patients
Ten adolescents with epilepsy were involved in the translation
and 99 in the psychometric process of the study. The inclusion cri-
teria were: (1) active epilepsy (i.e., at least one seizure in the last 2
years); (2) epilepsy duration longer than 2 years; (3) no change in
antiepileptic drug regimens in the past 4 months; (4) regular
school attendance with ability to read and write Chinese [3,10].
Adolescents who had had brain surgery, used a concomitant med-
ication with central nervous system effects, or had progressive
neurological or psychiatric illness were not considered eligible
for the study [11]. For each adolescent, his or her guardian pro-
vided a written consent.
1525-5050/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2008.12.016
* Corresponding author. Fax: +86 10 65296382.
E-mail address: professorwlw@yahoo.com.cn (L. Wu).
Epilepsy & Behavior 14 (2009) 476–480
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Epilepsy & Behavior
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yebeh