Validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the epilepsy stigma scale

Objective: This study was conducted to test the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the epilepsy stigma scale (ESS), which aims to better understand the stigma of patients with epilepsy (PWEs), lays the foundation for future investigation and explores appropriate strategies to mitigate PWEs' stigma in Chinese culture. Methods: The scale was translated following standard procedures. For psychometric validation, the Chinese version of the ESS was administered to 214 PWEs above the age of 16 who were diagnosed with epilepsy by two trained epileptologists and were taking anti-seizure drugs for at least a month. All of the patients were recruited from Xiangya Hospital of Central South University of China from August 2021 to September 2021. Results: The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.893 for the entire scale, 0.903 for felt stigma, and 0.688 for enacted stigma. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted and showed that the scale was grouped under two dimensions, and the results of confirmatory factor analysis support the structure. Conclusion: The Chinese version of the ESS is a valid and reliable tool to assess epilepsy-related stigma in Chinese culture. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.