BACKGROUNDAmblyopia is a common disease for children. The main treatment approach for amblyopia is to patch the normally sighted eye and force the use of the amblyopic eye. However, patching treatment in children may negatively impact psychological well-being of both the child and family. At present, no specific questionnaire is available to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of amblyopic treatment for children and their families in China. The purpose of our study was to develop a Chinese version of patching treatment questionnaire, and evaluate its reliability and validity.

METHODSThe original patching treatment questionnaire of amblyopia treatment index (ATI) was translated into Chinese. Amblyopic patients aged 4-9 years receiving patching 4-8 hours per day or full-time were recruited. The reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the patching treatment questionnaire were determined by internal consistency, test-retest reliability, item-scale correlations, and construct validity. The associated baseline factors and the questionnaire responses were assessed.

RESULTSOne hundred and nine children with amblyopia treated with patching were enrolled. Distribution of response options for individual items and correlation with the respective subscale were calculated. Factor analysis revealed that 16 of the 21 items were loaded in the three subscales as follows: "adverse effects" of treatment, "difficulties with compliance" and "social stigma" of treatment. Internal consistency values measured by Cronbach's α coefficient (0.768) and split-half coefficient (0.790) were satisfactory for the total scales. The intra-class correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was 0.998. No significant difference was found between the overall questionnaire scores and children's age, sex, baseline visual acuity of amblyopic eyes, improvement of the amblyopic eye, or patching time.

CONCLUSIONSWe developed a Chinese version of the patching treatment questionnaire with satisfactory reliability and validity. Validation in a patch-treated pediatric amblyopic population indicated that the questionnaire may be useful for Chinese children.