Measuring environmental barriers faced by individuals living with stroke: development and validation of the Chinese version of the Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a Chinese version of the Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors. DESIGN: Descriptive case-series. SUBJECTS: A total of 107 individuals with chronic stroke and 56 age-matched healthy subjects. METHODS: The English version of the 25-item Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors was translated into Chinese using standardized procedures, and then administered to both the stroke and control groups. The same questionnaire was administered again to the stroke group 1-2 weeks after the first session. RESULTS: The Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.916) and test-retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.845). It also had significant association with Personal Wellbeing Index (r(s) = -0.379, p = 0.001) but not with Fugl-Meyer Assessment upper limb (r(s) = -0.107, p = 0.320) and lower limb motor scores (r(s) = -0.032, p = 0.768) among stroke subjects, thus demonstrating convergent and discriminant validity, respectively. The mean Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors score in the stroke group was also significantly higher than that in controls (p = 0.020), thus showing good known-groups validity. CONCLUSION: The Chinese version of the Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors is a reliable and valid tool for evaluating the perceived environmental barriers experienced by people with chronic stroke.