Uno strumento per la ricerca transculturale in psichiatria: Studio pilota sull'adattamento del Chinese Health Questionnaire a 12 item (CHQ-12) per i cinesi residenti in Italia

Introduction. The Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ-12) is a research instrument, modeled after the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), aimed at assessing in a culturally appropriate way the psychological distress in Chinese-speaking populations. Aims. The authors present the adaptation of a bilingual Chinese/Italian version of CHQ-12 suitable for Chinese population in Italy. Methods. CHQ-12 text was first converted in simplified Chinese characters and adapted to the language spoken by Chinese living in Italy, then, following a "forward-backward" translation procedure an Italian version was obtained. Content equivalence was assessed by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient between the Italian and Chinese version. The reliability was assessed by calculating test-retest stability and internal consistency. Validity was assessed using convergent validity. Results. The content equivalence was high (intraclass correlation 0,99) and reliability analysis showed satisfactory results (Cronbach alpha for internal consistency 0,84, intraclass correlation for test-retest stability 0,87, Spearman rho for convergent validity 0,63). Conclusions. The bilingual Chinese/Italian version of CHQ-12 shows good reliability and validity and can be considered a suitable instrument for cross-cultural research on psychological distress in Chinese living in Italy.