Psychometric properties of the 'Self‐Management and Transition to Adulthood with Rx = Treatment Questionnaire' in Chinese children and young people with chronic diseases.

Aims: The aims of this work were to translate, culturally adapt and evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Self‐Management and Transition to Adulthood with Rx = Treatment Questionnaire. Background: Children and young people with chronic diseases are expected to start self‐managing their diseases and have a smooth and coordinated transition from paediatric‐ to adult‐oriented care. Design This study involved the cultural adaptation of a questionnaire into Chinese and examined its factor structure. Methods: This was a multicentre cross‐sectional study of children and young people/adolescents (8–18 years) who were diagnosed with chronic diseases in China from June 2016 to December 2018. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to analyse the questionnaire's validity. Results: Four major factors were identified in the Chinese version of the questionnaire, and it had a good fit to the target population. The internal reliability was good. All factors were positively and strongly correlated with the total score. The t test revealed that the Medication Management score was not significantly different between two age groups (8–11 and 12–18 years), but the scores of the other factors and overall scale were lower in the 8–11 years age group. Conclusion: The Chinese version of the questionnaire has good reliability and validity in the Chinese context. SUMMARY STATEMENT: What is already known about this topic? Over 90% of children and young people (CYP) with chronic diseases will survive into adulthood with their diseases, and they are expected to have an effective and coordinated health‐care transition.The Self‐Management and Transition to Adulthood with Rx = Treatment (STARx) Questionnaire is reported to be a useful tool for evaluating the transition readiness of CYP with chronic diseases. What this paper adds? This study is the first to apply the STARx Questionnaire to chronically ill CYP in the Chinese context, and it includes rheumatic diseases, renal disorders and diabetes.Four factors were identified—Medication Management, Health‐Care Engagement, Provider Communication and Disease Knowledge—and the questionnaire has good reliability and validity in the Chinese context.The Medication Management score was not statistically significantly different between two age groups (8–11 and 12–18 years), but the scores of the other factors and the overall scale were lower in the 8–11 years age group. The implications of this paper: The Chinese version of the STARx Questionnaire (STARx‐C) was shown to be a useful and reliable guide for nurses to identify the capacity of CYP with chronic diseases in terms of self‐management and, accordingly, to implement specific caring plans.Younger CYP should be more comprehensively supervised, whereas the older CYP need care providers to identify a suitable time for their transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]