Validation of a Chinese version of the sign and symptom checklist for persons with HIV diseases

Symptoms are common in HIV-infected persons and occur at all stages of the illness. An effective symptom assessment tool can help health care providers quickly detect patients' problems and provide suitable care. Because no studies focusing on developing a sign and symptom checklist for persons with HIV can be found for Taiwanese patients or for those who speak Chinese, the purpose of this study was to validate a Chinese version of the Sign & Symptom Checklist for Persons with HIV (SSC-HIV-C). The Checklist first was translated from the English version into a Chinese version and then was back translated to examine accuracy. Both face and construct validity were used to examine overall validity of the instrument. Tests for internal consistency and test-retest reliability were used to examine the reliability of the instrument. The results indicated that the Chinese version of the SSC-HIV yielded highly acceptable parameters of validity and reliability. This Chinese version of the SSC-HIV can be used for measuring signs and symptoms of HIV-AIDS in persons in Taiwan who have HIV, as well as for other Chinese-speaking populations.