Psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of the Child Health Utility ₉D (CHU₉D-CHN): a school-based study in China

Purpose: The Child Health Utility ₉D (CHU₉D), a new generic preference-based health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instrument, was developed specifically for the application in cost-effectiveness analyses of treatments and interventions for children and adolescents. The main objective of this study was to examine the psychometric property of the Chinese version of CHU₉D (CHU₉D-CHN) in a large school-based sample in China. Methods: Data were collected using a multi-stage sampling method from third-to-ninth-grade students in Shaanxi Province, China. Participants self-completed a hard-copy questionnaire including the CHU₉D-CHN instrument, the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales (PedsQL), information on socio-demographic characteristics and self-reported health status. The psychometric properties of the CHU₉D-CHN, including the internal consistency, 2-week test–retest reliability, convergent and known-groups validity were studied. Results: A total of 1912 students participated in the survey. The CHU₉D-CHN internal consistency and test–retest reliability were good to excellent with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.77 and an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.65, respectively. The CHU₉D utility scores moderately correlated with the PedsQL total scores (r =.57, P <.001), demonstrating good convergent validity. Difference of the CHU₉D utility scores among the different participants with levels of self-reported general health, health services utilisation and left-behind status demonstrated good construct validity. Conclusion: The findings demonstrated adequate psychometric performance for the CHU₉D-CHN. The CHU₉D-CHN was a satisfactory, reliable and valid instrument to measure and value HRQoL for children and adolescents in China.