Validity and Reliability of the Chinese Version of the Diabetes Treatment Burden Questionnaire (DTBQ) Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

BACKGROUND: In China, diabetes has become a serious healthcare problem that plagues individuals and the government because of its high mortality rate and social burden, with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) accounting for the vast majority (about 90%) of cases. T2DM patients face a huge medication burden and it is imperative to find appropriate tools to assess the medication burden for patients. This study aimed to translate the original Diabetes Treatment Burden Questionnaire (DTBQ) into Chinese and assessed the reliability and validity of the DTBQ concerning the burden of medication treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: A total of 329 T2DM patients were recruited to participate in the survey. The original version scale was first translated into Chinese using the backward and forward translation procedures. The internal consistency reliability of the scale was measured by the Cronbach alpha coefficient, the test-retest reliability, and the item-total correlation. The validity of the scale was assessed by the content validity index, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: The content validity index of the scale was 0.920. Cronbach alpha coefficient for the scale was 0.831. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supported a 15-item and 3-factor structure of the translated questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed in the model fitness index, the chi-square degree of freedom was 3.575, the incremental fit index (IFI) was 0.917, the comparative fit index(CFI) was 0.916, the Tucker Lewis Index(TLI) was 0.900, all within acceptable limits. The retest reliability was 0.892, and the corrected item-total correlations for the items ranged from 0.293 to 0.729. CONCLUSION: Verification results showed that the Chinese version of the 15-item DTBQ had reliable reliability and validity. Therefore, it can be considered as an appropriate tool to assess the burden of drug treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes in China.