Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Hypoglycemia Fear SurveyII for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in a Chinese metropolis

PURPOSE: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Hypoglycemia Fear SurveyII (HFS-II) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from Tianjin City. METHODS: The original HFS-II was translated and adapted to Chinese.350 inpatients from five hospitals of Tianjin completed the Chinese HFS-II. We examined the validity (content and construct validity) and reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability) of the scale. Content validity was evaluated by the content validity index (CVI) and the average agreement CVI(S-CVI/Ave). The construct validity was assessed by exploratory factor analysis. Reliability was measured by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cronbach’s alpha. RESULTS: The mean age of the 350 patients was 55.5±9.3years. The CVI was 0.71~1.0 and S-CVI/Ave was 0.92 respectively. By exploratory factor analysis, four factors were extracted which accounted for 52.15% of the total variance in the 23-item scale. The Chinese HFS-II displayed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.90) and test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.96). CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese version of HFSII had excellent psychometric properties and it could provide a useful tool for clinicians and nursing staff to assess the fear of hypoglycemia.