Evaluation of the validity and reliability of the CAT (COPD assessment test) questionnaire among COPD patients attending Masih Daneshvari Hospital

Abstract

Background: For COPD patients, influence of disease on quality of life is measured via questionnaires. In this study, the goal was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the short and easily translated COPD Assessment Test (CAT), Persian translation. Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional pilot study with completion of the Persian translation of the CAT questionnaire by COPD patients attending the emergency room Masih Daneshvari Hospital during the time period between winter of 2012 and summer of 2012. The results of the questionnaire were compared with the Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire, number of respiratory medications and frequency of visits to the emergency room. Results: In total, 32 patients participated in this study with mean age of 60±13years and 98% of the patients were men and 7% were women. The Cronbach9s alpha coefficient for the CAT questionnaire was calculated to be 0.732. There was statistically significant correlation between the scores from the CAT questionnaire and the total scores from the SGRQ (Pearson correlation coefficient=0.590, P=0.010). Discussion: This pilot study showed that the CAT questionnaire was well accepted by the patients with almost all questions being answered. The reliability of the questionnaire using Cronbach9s alpha coefficient was acceptable and the questionnaire score correlated with the total score on the SGRQ questionnaire.