Adaptation and psychometric testing of the hoarding rating scale (HRS): a self-administered screening scale for epidemiological study in Chinese population

Hoarding disorder is a chronic and debilitating illness associated with restrictions on activities of daily living, compromised social and occupational functioning, and adverse health outcomes. However, researchers lack a brief and self-administered screening measurement to assess compulsive hoarding in the Chinese speaking population. This study aimed to adapt and validate the Hoarding Rating Scale-Interview (HRS-I) to as a tool for screening compulsive hoarding behavior in Chinese population. This study comprised two phases. During Phase 1, the English-language HRS-I was translated into Chinese (CHRS) (comprehensible for most Chinese speaking population, e.g., Cantonese & Mandarin) and subjected to an equivalence check. In Phase 2, the CHRS was validated by examining internal consistency, stability, and construct validity. Different samples were used appropriately to verify the items and reflect the psychometric properties. In Phase 1, the CHRS yielded satisfactory content (S-CVI = 0.93) and face validity ratings (comprehensibility = 100%, N = 20 participants of general public with age 18-72) and the English and Chinese versions were found to be equivalent (ICC = 0.887; N = 60 university staff and students). Phase 2 revealed satisfactory levels of internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.86; corrected item-total correlation = 0.60-0.74; N = 820 participants of general public), 2-week test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.78; N = 60 university students), and construct validity (one-factor CFA solution matched with the hypothesized model, χ /d.f. = 2.26, RMSEA = 0.049, CFI = 0.99, IFI = 0.99, NFI = 0.99; n = 520 participants of general public). This study provides sufficient evidence of the reliability and validity of the CHRS for compulsive hoarding behavior screening in the Chinese population through self-administered method.