The Reliability And Validity Of Chinese Version Atrial Fibrillation Quality Of Life Scale

Objective:To translate and revise Atrial Fibrillation Effect on Quality-of-Life(AF-QoL-18)and to test its reliability and validity.Method:1.According to the AF management guidelines of AHA,through extensive literature review,we selected AF-QoL-18.2.The initial Chinese version of AF-QoL which included three factors and 21 items was developed through the process of translation,back-translation,cultural adaptation,and preliminary experiment.3.A total of 187 non-valvular AF patients from eight hospitals in Suzhou district were investigated using the initial Chinese version of AF-QoL to test the reliability and validity.The data was input into SPSS18.0 software.We used item analysis method and exploring factor analysis to screen the items.The reliability analysis methods included homogeneity reliability,split-half reliability and test-retest reliability.The validity analysis was evaluated by surface validity,content validity and construct validity.Result:1.After translation and back translation,semantic analysis,expert consultation and pre-experiment results,the Chinese version of AF-QoL covered two dimensions including physical,psychological,and 21 items.Each entry was easy to understand under the background of Chinese culture.2.Items and factors analysis results: Through items and exploratory factor analysis,exclude 4 items.The final version consisted of 3 dimensions and 17 items(AF-QoL-17): namely factor 1(physiological dimension,10 items),factor 2(psychological dimension,4 items),factor 3(sex dimension,3 items).3.Reliability test: the homogeneity test of Cronbach’s a coefficient of total scale was 0.915,factor 1,factor 2,factor 3 Cronbach’s a coefficient were 0.911,0.857 and 0.891 respectively;The test-retest reliability of the whole scale was 0.948,the three dimensions were 0.880,0.936 and 0.733 respectively.All of the coefficients were statistically significant(P<0.001).4.Validity test: Face validity: according to the theory and method of scale-development of the Chinese version,with experts knowledge that the scale had good face validity.Content validity: The total scale content validity index(CVI)was 0.969,and each item ranged from 0.67~1.0.Construct validity: There are three factors extracted by exploratory factor analysis,which explained 65.055% variances,and meeting requirements of greater than 40%.The KMO value was 0.858.The item and total scale correlation coefficient ranged from 0.414~0.755.The correlation coefficient of total scale ranged from 0.527~0.707.The collection coefficient ranged from 0.580~0.872 and the distinguished coefficient ranged from0.032~0.478.ConclusionThe Chinese version AF-QoL-17 has proved to be reliable and valid.It can be used to measure the quality of life of AF patients in China;and the number of entries is moderate,concise and easy to understand,can be popularized in clinic.