Reliability and validity of the Korean standard pattern identification for stroke (K-SPI-Stroke) questionnaire

BACKGROUND: The present study was conducted to examine the reliability and validity of the ‘Korean Standard Pattern Identification for Stroke (K-SPI-Stroke)’, which was developed and evaluated within the context of traditional Korean medicine (TKM). METHODS: Between September 2006 and December 2010, 2,905 patients from 11 Korean medical hospitals were asked to complete the K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire as a part of project ' Fundamental study for the standardization and objectification of pattern identification in traditional Korean medicine for stroke (SOPI-Stroke). Each patient was independently diagnosed by two TKM physicians from the same site according to one of four patterns, as suggested by the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine: 1) a Qi deficiency pattern, 2) a Dampness-phlegm pattern, 3) a Yin deficiency pattern, or 4) a Fire-heat pattern. We estimated the internal consistency using Cronbach’s α coefficient, the discriminant validity using the means score of patterns, and the predictive validity using the classification accuracy of the K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire. RESULTS: The K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire had satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.700) and validity, with significant differences in the mean of scores among the four patterns. The overall classification accuracy of this questionnaire was 65.2 %. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for estimating the severity of the four patterns.