Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Head and Neck Information Needs Questionnaire for patients with head and neck cancer and their caregivers

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Head and Neck Information Needs Questionnaire(Ha Ni Q).Methods: The Ha Ni Q was translated into a Chinese version using internationally recognized forwardand back-translation procedures. The reliability and validity of the Ha Ni Q were measured using Cronbach’s a coefficient, split-half reliability, exploratory factor analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis.Results: A total of 207 patients in different head and neck cancer(HNC) stages and 174 caregivers completed the Chinese version of the Ha Ni Q. Internal consistencies varied between good and very well(Cronbach’s a coefficient 0.74-0.90); the split-half coefficient and the content validity index(CVI) of the questionnaire were 83.5% and 83.33%, respectively. The cumulative contribution rates of the 5 subscales in patients with HNCand their caregivers were 62.41% and 61.19%, respectively. However, there are some differences between the Chinese questionnaire for caregiver and the original questionnaire regarding the attribution of items. Items 22, 23, and 27 in the Psychosocial subscale of the English version were assigned to the Survivorship subscale in the Chinese version for caregivers.Conclusions: The results demonstrated that the Chinese version of the Ha Ni Q is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the information needs of patients with HNC and that of their caregivers. Though the structure of the Chinese version was different from the English version for caregivers of HNC patients,the Chinese version of the Ha Ni Q appears to be reliable and would benefit from further testing.