Psychometrics of chronic liver disease questionnaire in Chinese chronic hepatitis B patients

AIM: To evaluate psychometrics of the Chinese (mainland) chronic liver disease questionnaire (CLDQ) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of 460 Chinese patients with CHB was selected from the Outpatient Department of the Eighth Hospital of Xi’an, including CHB (CHB without cirrhosis) (n = 323) and CHB-related cirrhosis (n = 137). The psychometrics includes reliability, validity and sensitivity. Internal consistency reliability was measured using Cronbach’s α. Convergent and discriminant validity was evaluated by item-scale correlation. Factorial validity was explored by principal component analysis with varimax rotation. Sensitivity was assessed using Cohen’s effect size (ES), and independent sample t test between CHB and CHB-related cirrhosis groups and between alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normal and abnormal groups after stratifying the disease (CHB and CHB-related cirrhosis).RESULTS: Internal consistency reliability of the CLDQ was 0.83 (range: 0.65-0.90). Most of the hypothesized item-scale correlations were 0.40 or over, and all of such hypothesized correlations were higher than the alternative ones, indicating satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity. Six factors were extracted after varimax rotation from the 29 items of CLDQ. The eligible Cohen’s ES with statistically significant independent sample t test was found in the overall CLDQ and abdominal, systematic, activity scales (CHB vs CHB-related cirrhosis), and in the overall CLDQ and abdominal scale in the stratification of patients with CHB (ALT normal vs abnormal).CONCLUSION: The CLDQ has acceptable reliability, validity and sensitivity in Chinese (mainland) patients with CHB.