Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the simplified Chinese version of the Exercise-Induced Leg Pain Questionnaire (EILP)

Abstract

Purpose

This study cross-culturally adapted and psychometrically validated a simplified Chinese version of the Exercise-Induced Leg Pain Questionnaire (SC-EILP) for evaluating the severity of symptoms and sports ability among individuals with exercise-induced leg pain.

Materials and methods

One hundred and fourteen participants with exercise-induced leg pain were included. To assess reliability, we calculated Cronbach’s α and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Construct validity was analysed by assessing the correlations between SC-EILP and visual analogue scale (VAS), University of California Los Angeles activity score (UCLA), and short form (36) health survey (SF-36). Factorial validity was used to establish the factor structure of the questionnaire.

Results

The EILP was cross-culturally well-adapted and translated into simplified Chinese. Each item was appropriately correlated with the total items. SC-EILP had nearly good reliability [Cronbach’s α = 0.798, ICC = 0.897, 95% confidence interval 0.851–0.929]. The elimination of any one item in all did not result in a value of Cronbach’s α of <0.80. SC-EILP had a very good correlation with VAS (−0.607, p < 0.01) and a moderate correlation with UCLA (0.581, p < 0.01) and physical domains of SF-36 (0.499–0.528, p < 0.01). Exploratory factor analysis revealed the 3-factor loading explained 74.736% of the total variance [Kaiser–Mayer–Olkin (KMO) = 0.672, C² = 665.34, p < 0.001].

Conclusions

SC-EILP showed excellent acceptability, internal consistency, reliability, and construct validity, and could be recommended for individuals in Mainland China.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• This study translated and cross-culturally adapted Exercise-Induced Leg Pain Questionnaire into a Simplified Chinese version, and evaluated its reliability and validity in individuals with exercise-induced leg pain.

• Moderate to substantial correlations between the Simplified Chinese version of the Exercise-Induced Leg Pain Questionnaire and VAS, UCLA, as well as physical subscales of SF-36 were observed.

• Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the 3-factor loading explained 74.736% of the total variance [Kaiser–Mayer–Olkin (KMO) = 0.672, C² = 665.34, p < 0.001].

• Simplified Chinese version of the Exercise-Induced Leg Pain Questionnaire was demonstrated to have acceptable simplicity, good reliability, and validity in individuals with exercise-induced leg pain, which could be recommended for patients in Chinese mainland.

Keywords:

• Exercise-induced leg pain
• reliability
• validity
• factor analysis
• simplified Chinese version

Acknowledgments

We thank all staff from the participating departments and clinics for their help in performing aspiration in these years and for their help with patients’ enrollment and data collection.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were approved by the clinical research Ethics Committee of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China, which followed the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Author contributions

CJ: manuscript writing, data collection, data analysis, study conception, participation in the design of the study, data interpretation, and project coordination. YW: data collection, data analysis, study conception, participation in the design of the study, data interpretation, and project coordination. FH: data curation, investigation, methodology, validation, and writing—review and editing. XY: investigation, methodology, validation, and writing—review and editing. ZZ: data curation, investigation, methodology, and writing—review and editing. SC and XZ: project administration, supervision, and writing—review and editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

We do not wish to share our data, because some of the patient’s data is regarding individual privacy, and according to the policy of our hospital, the data could not be shared with others without permission.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Application of Clinical Features of Capital City of Science and Technology Commission China BEIJING Special Subject (Z181100001718180) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81972128).