Abstract
BackgroundThe Short Form 12-item Health Survey (SF-12v2) was originally developed in English, but it is also available in Hong Kong (HK) Chinese. While both language versions had their measurement properties well assessed in their respective populations, their measurement invariance in scores has not been examined. Therefore, we aimed to assess their measurement invariance.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study on individuals aged 18 years or older at a university campus. Those who were bilingual in English and Chinese were randomly assigned to self-complete either the standard English or the HK Chinese SF-12v2. Measurement invariance of the two components and eight scales of the SF-12v2 was concluded if the corresponding 90% confidence interval (CI) for the difference between the two language versions entirely fell within the minimal clinically important difference of ± 3 units. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was also performed.ResultsA total of 1013 participants completed the SF-12v2 (496 in English and 517 in HK Chinese), with a mean age of 22 years (Range 18–58), and 626 participants (62%) were female. There were no significant differences in demographics. Only the physical and mental components and the mental health (MH) scale had their 90% CIs (0.21 to 1.61, − 1.00 to 0.98, and − 0.86 to 2.84, respectively) completely fall within the ± 3 units. The multiple-group CFA showed partial strict invariance.ConclusionsThe English and HK Chinese versions of the SF-12v2 can be used in studies with their two components and MH scores pooled in the analysis.
Highlights
The Short Form 12-item Health Survey (SF-12v2) was originally developed in English, but it is available in Hong Kong (HK) Chinese
A total of 1052 subjects consented to participate in the study, of which, 1013 completed the Social function (SF)-12v2
For the English version, the Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega of physical component score (PCS) were 0.72 and 0.75, respectively, while those of mental component score (MCS) were 0.83 and 0.84, respectively
Summary
The Short Form 12-item Health Survey (SF-12v2) was originally developed in English, but it is available in Hong Kong (HK) Chinese While both language versions had their measurement properties well assessed in their respective populations, their measurement invariance in scores has not been examined. Self-reported outcomes have been commonly used in clinical studies for assessing the health status or wellbeing of individuals These days, most countries are multicultural with a diverse population comprising different ethnic or language groups. Under the Universalist model of equivalence, there are six types of cross-cultural equivalence to be assessed before concluding an instrument is crossculturally valid [2] They are conceptual equivalence, item equivalence, semantic equivalence, operational equivalence, measurement equivalence, and functional equivalence [2, 3]. It involves collective appraisal of other types of equivalence in the context of application
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