Validation of a Taiwanese Version of the Burn-Specific Health Scale-Brief

The purposes of this study were to translate the brief version of the Burn-Specific Health Scale (BSHS-B) into traditional Chinese (Taiwanese) and to evaluate its psychometric properties to measure quality of life of burn patients in Taiwan. The BSHS-B-Taiwanese was translated and reviewed by an expert committee. Patients were invited to participate in this study while they visited the outpatient burn clinic. One hundred and eight burn patients participated in this study by filling out the BSHS-B-Taiwanese and SF-36 Taiwanese version. Forty-one of 108 patients completed a retest on the BSHS-B-Taiwanese. A ceiling effect was found for psychosocial functioning and all domains of the BSHS-B-Taiwanese. Internal consistency shown by Cronbach's alpha was all above 0.70 except for the interpersonal relationships domain. Of these, Cronbach's alpha >= 0.9 was found in the work, heat sensitivity, and body image domains. Test-retest reliabilities ranged from 0.74 to 0.93 except for the simple activity domain. As for the criterion validity, most of the BSHS-B-Taiwanese version was shown to have fair to moderate correlations with the SF-36-Taiwanese in corresponding domains. The discriminant validity of the BSHS-B-Taiwanese was demonstrated by significant score differences in several domains between subgroups of different severity regarding length of hospital stay and TBSA. Our finding suggests that the BSHS-Taiwanese is generally reliable and valid. A shorter version of BSHS-B-Taiwanese together with a generic instrument, such as SF-36, can be used to measure the quality of life of burn patients in Taiwan.