Brief communication Development and psychometric tests of the Chinese-version Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire H. Zou 1 , X. Zhang 1 , X. Xu 1 , L. Bai & J.S. Wolffsohn 2 1 Department of Ophthalmology, First People’s Hospital, Medical College of Shanghai, Jiao Tong University, Shanghai China (E-mail: zouhaidong@hotmail.com); 2 Neurosciences Research Institute, Aston University, Birmingham, UK Accepted in revised form 28 December 2004 Abstract Background/Aims: To develop and assess the psychometric validity of a Chinese language Vision Health related quality-of-life (VRQoL) measurement instrument for the Chinese visually impaired. Methods: The Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire (LVQOL) was translated and adapted into the Chinese-version Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire (CLVQOL). The CLVQOL was completed by 100 randomly selected people with low vision (primary group) and 100 people with normal vision (control group). Ninety- four participants from the primary group completed the CLVQOL a second time 2 weeks later (test–retest group). The internal consistency reliability, test–retest reliability, item-internal consistency, item-discrimi- nation validity, construct validity and discriminatory power of the CLVQOL were calculated. Results: The review committee agreed that the CLVQOL replicated the meaning of the LVQOL and was sensitive to cultural differences. The Cronbach’s a coefficient and the split-half coefficient for the four scales and total CLVQOL scales were 0.75–0.97. The test–retest reliability as estimated by the intraclass correlations coefficient was 0.69–0.95. Item-internal consistency was >0.4 and item-discrimination validity was gener- ally <0.40. The Varimax rotation factor analysis of the CLVQOL identified four principal factors. the quality-of-life rating of four subscales and the total score of the CLVQOL of the primary group were lower than those of the Control group, both in hospital-based subjects and community-based subjects. Conclu- sion: The CLVQOL Chinese is a culturally specific vision-related quality-of-life measure instrument. It satisfies conventional psychometric criteria, discriminates visually healthy populations from low vision patients and may be valuable in screening the local community as well as for use in clinical practice or research. Key words: Quality of life, Questionnaire, Reliability, Validity, Vision Introduction Since the 1980s, there has been a proliferation of new quality-of-life instruments and a burgeoning theoretical literature on patient-based measure- ments of eye health status. However, most of them have been developed in the English language and few in Chinese. Currently, only two Chinese questionnaires have been developed for evaluating vision-related quality-of-life (VRQoL) for people with cataract or glaucoma [1–3], and neither has been validated for evaluating patients with un- treatable visual impairment (low vision) or for use with general community-based subjects. Although many VRQoL instruments have been published over the last decade, only two have been developed and validated using a population with visual impairment. The impact of visual impair- ment profile (IVI) was developed to examine par- ticipation (formerly defined as handicap) issues [4]. Quality of Life Research (2005) 14: 1633–1639 Ó Springer 2005 DOI: 10.1007/s11136-004-0026-5