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Objective: Chinese-language scales for assessing quality of life in women around menopause are rare. This study was conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of a Chinese-language version of the Utian Quality of Life Scale (UQOL-C)., Methods: A sample of women (n = 434) between 41 and 60 years old was recruited from an obstetrics/gynecology outpatient department in Taipei. After translating the instrument, we conducted psychometric testing, which included internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity. Construct validity of the UQOL-C was examined by testing the correlations between the UQOL-C and the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey Taiwan version and between the UQOL-C and the Greene Climacteric Scale Chinese version., Results: The Chinese translation captured the content of the original tool. The reliability coefficients (Cronbach α) for the quality of life domains measured were as follows: 0.86, overall; 0.85, occupational; 0.70, health-related; 0.66, emotional; and 0.61, sexual. The test-retest reliability of the UQOL-C was satisfactory (r = 0.88-0.91, P < 0.001). The construct validity of the UQOL-C was confirmed through significant correlations between scores on (1) the UQOL-C and the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey Taiwan version (r = 0.15-0.59, P < 0.01) and (2) the UQOL-C and the Greene Climacteric Scale Chinese version (r = -0.10 to -0.56, P < 0.05)., Conclusions: The UQOL-C was shown to be reliable and valid with this sample of women between 41 and 60 years old. The low Cronbach α values of the UQOL-C emotional and sexual domains suggested that the reliability of these two domains required further studies.

Objectives: To provide a culturally and linguistically specific survey instrument for tobacco consumption in Taiwan, we evaluated the reliability and validity of a Chinese translation of the 1993 US Tobacco Use Subscale of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (TU-BRFSS)., Methods: An integrative translation was followed by a pilot study of 100 randomly selected adults from throughout Taiwan. Telephone interviews took place in July, 2004. Validity was assessed by Content Validity Index (CVI) computed on the basis of expert review and the averaged scores of back-translation., Results: Of 29 questions, 25 met the CVI criteria for retention in the instrument. In the back-translation assessment, 85% of the average scores taken from the expert evaluations were above 4 (scale of 1-5). Three of four percent agreements between the referent question and 4 other questions were 100%., Conclusions: The Chinese version of the TU-BRFSS, with appropriate content, semantics, and conceptual equivalence, appears valid and reliable for future surveillance and research in Taiwan and other Chinese populations.