AIM: The aim of this study was to translate and determine the validity and reliability of the Malaysian versions of Parent and Children Health Survey for Asthma.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Questionnaires were translated to Bahasa Malayu using previously established guidelines, data from 180 respondents (asthmatic children and their parent) were analysed using Rasch-Model; as, it is an approach that has been increasingly used in health field and also it explores the performance of each item rather than total set score.
RESULTS: The internal consistency was high for the parent questionnaire (CHSA) (reliability score for persons = 0.88 and for items was 0.97), and good for child questionnaire (CHSA-C) (reliability score for persons = 0.83 and for items was 0.94). Also, this study shows that all items measure for both questionnaires (CHSA and CHSA-C) are fitted to Rasch-Model.
CONCLUSION: This study produced questionnaires that are conceptually equivalent to the original, easy to understand for the children and their parents, and good in terms of internal consistency. Because of the questionnaire has two versions one for the child and the other for the parents, they could be used in clinical practice to measure the effect of asthma on the child and their families. This current research had translated two instruments to other language (BahasaMalayu) and evaluated their reliability and validity hence will help researchers from the same country to use these translated instruments in their studies.