Keywords

cancer, Chinese, irritability, depression, measurement

 

Authors

  1. Zhang, Amy Y.
  2. Tang, Lili
  3. Ganocy, Stephen
  4. Chung, Min-Huey
  5. Chang, Wen-Pei

Abstract

Background: Irritability is a common experience of depressed Chinese patients but is understudied and poorly measured.

 

Objective: We aimed to assess psychometric properties of a new measure of irritability in Chinese cancer patients across the social and political spectrum.

 

Methods: The Irritability Scale-Initial Version (TISi) was translated into Chinese and tested in two samples of Chinese cancer patients undergoing treatments: 52 patients in Beijing, China, between 2018 and 2019 and 65 patients in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2020.

 

Results: The Chinese version of TISi demonstrated high internal consistency, high reliability based on the split-half method in the two samples, and satisfactory discriminant validity using the Chinese version of the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the seven-item depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in the Beijing sample. A confirmatory factor analysis produced factor loadings in both samples, which resembled a sample of American cancer patients. Three TISi items were loaded more highly on the physical instead of the original behavioral subscale in the Beijing sample. A possible influence of cultures was explained.

 

Conclusion: The Chinese version of TISi has satisfactory psychometric properties for assessing the level of irritability in Chinese cancer patients. Future large-sample studies are needed to further determine TISi's factorial structure, test-retest reliability, sensitivity to change, and predictive validity for depression in Chinese cancer patients.