Validation of a French-language version of the health education impact Questionnaire (heiQ) among chronic disease patients seen in primary care: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: The Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ) allows for the evaluation of the effects of education interventions provided to patients with chronic diseases. This study describes the process for the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the heiQ into French (heiQ-Fv). METHODS: We undertook a systematic translation process followed by a validation study based on the secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from a longitudinal study. Participants in the validation study were adult patients from primary care clinics in Quebec, Canada, with one or more of the following diseases: diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease; or one or more risk factors for these diseases. Main outcomes of the study were the French version of the heiQ-Fv and the validation analyses that included internal consistency, test-retest reliability, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and concomitant validity. RESULTS: The validation analysis was conducted on results from 332 participants. Cronbach’s alphas (internal consistency) for seven domains of the heiQ-Fv varied from 0.80 to 0.89; one domain scored 0.69. The test-retest analysis (n = 50) yielded intra-class correlation coefficients from 0.66 to 0.86. The CFA of the eight heiQ domains with the hypothesis of no correlation between the domains yielded a model that did not exhibit acceptable fit values. A model with the hypothesis of all domains correlated exhibited acceptable fit values (scaled chi-square = 1210.15, degrees of freedom = 712, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.98; RMSEA = 0.06; SRMR = 0.065). Results show a moderate correlation (concomitant validity) between five domains of the heiQ-Fv and the Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Diseases. We also found a moderate to strong correlation between the Emotional Wellbeing domain of the heiQ and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) (r = 0.61; 95 % CI: 0.52 –0.69, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The heiQ was translated into French using a rigorous translation process; the French-language version showed good psychometric properties. Health professionals and researchers in primary care settings may use the heiQ-FV to evaluate the impact of educational programs on patients with chronic diseases. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12955-015-0254-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.