Translation and Linguistic Validation of the Pediatric Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Measures into Simplified Chinese Using Cognitive Interviewing Methodology

Background: The Pediatric Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) measures were developed using modern measurement theory and tested in a variety of settings to assess the quality of life, function, and symptoms of children and adolescents experiencing a chronic illness and its treatment. Developed in English, this set of measures had not been translated into Chinese.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop the Chinese version of the Pediatric PROMIS measures (C-Ped-PROMIS), specifically 8 short forms, and to pretest the translated measures in children and adolescents through cognitive interviewing methodology.

Methods: The C-Ped-PROMIS was developed following the standard Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Translation Methodology. Bilingual teams from the United States and China reviewed the translation to develop a provisional version, which was then pretested with cognitive interview by probing 10 native Chinese-speaking children aged 8 to 17 years in China.

Results: The translation was finalized by the bilingual teams. Most items, response options, and instructions were well understood by the children, and some revisions were made to address patient's comments during the cognitive interview.

Conclusions: The results indicated that the C-Ped-PROMIS items were semantically and conceptually equivalent to the original. Children aged 8 to 17 years in China were able to comprehend these measures and express their experience and feelings about illness or their life.

Implications For Practice: The C-Ped-PROMIS is available for psychometric validation. Future work will be directed at translating the rest of the item banks, calibrating them and creating a Chinese final version of the short forms.