Research

Further validation of the Health Scale of Traditional Chinese Medicine (HSTCM)

Darong Wu¹ , Shilong Lai^1,2 , Luojing Zhou¹ , Xinfeng Guo² , Weixiong Liang² , Zehuai Wen² , Aihua Ou¹ , Guangqing Zhang¹ and Keji Chen³

¹  Second Affiliated Hospital of the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, PR China

²  Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, PR China

³  Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, PR China

author email corresponding author email

Chinese Medicine 2009, 4:8doi:10.1186/1749-8546-4-8

Published:	30 April 2009

Abstract

Background

Few health measurement scales are based on Chinese medicine theory. The Health Scale of Traditional Chinese Medicine (HSTCM) was developed to fill this gap. The aim of this study is to validate the HSTCM.

Methods

A convenience sample of 630 participants was recruited in 11 settings. All participants were asked to complete the HSTCM and World Health Organization Quality of Life Measure-Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF).

Results

Properties of the HSTCM were tested. Intra-class correlation coefficient representing the inter-interviewer reliability was 0.99 (95%CI) for the overall instrument. Spearman-Brown correlation coefficient and Cronbach's coefficient alpha were 0.81 and 0.94 respectively, indicating satisfactory internal reliability and inter-interviewer reliability. Spearman's rho correlation coefficient between the HSTCM and WHOQOL-BREFF was -0.67. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to test the discriminate validation. Areas under the ROC curve analysis for the HSTCM and its domains ranged 0.71–0.87 and all the lower levels of 95%CI were greater than 0.50.

Conclusion

The HSTCM was validated as a generic health scale and may complement existing health measurement scales in Chinese medicine health care.