The Chinese Version of The Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire-16-C (QOLCE-16-C): Translation, Validity, and Reliability

Abstract BackgroundEpilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological diseases that adversely impact the quality of life of patients and their families. The 16-item measure of the Quality of Life Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE-16) was designed to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among children with epilepsy. The purpose of the study was to translate and evaluate psychometric properties of the QOLCE-16.MethodsThe 10 steps of Principles of Good Practices for translation and cultural adaptation of measures were adopted to translate the QOLCE-16 into Chinese. After that, item analysis, internal consistency, test-retest reliabilities, content validity and construct validity were conducted to test its applicability in children with epilepsy under the culture of China.ResultsA total of 414 objects were enrolled in our study. The results of item analysis showed the QOLCE-16-C had good discrimination, and each item was significantly related to the total scale (P<0.001). The Cronbach’s α value was 0.938 and the Test-retest reliability was 0.724. For validity, results showed that the QOLCE-16-C had good content validity. Exploratory factor analysis indicated it was reasonable that the QOLCE-16-C consists of four dimensions after rotation. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated good validity (χ2/df = 1.698, GFI = 0.913, CFI = 0.974, RMSEA = 0.058).ConclusionThe Chinese version of QOLCE-16-C appears to be a culturally appropriate, valid and reliable tool to assess the health-related quality of life of children with epilepsy in China.