Validity and reliability of Chinese Belief about Medicine Questionnaire-Specific in caregivers of children with epilepsy

Abstract Background: There were 10.5 million children with active epilepsy around the world, about 70% of people with epilepsy could be seizure free if they got proper antiseizure medicines therapy. Belief could play an important role in adherence to medicine according to Health Belief Model. And scholars designed Belief about Medicines Questionnaire-Specific to assess people belief on medicine, but rare research paid attention to its application among caregivers of children with epilepsy in China. The study aimed to verify validity and reliability of Chinese Belief about Medicine Questionnaire-Specific among caregivers of children with epilepsy. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University between June 2021 and May 2024. The general information questionnaires and Chinese Belief About Medicine Questionnaire-Specific were distributed to participants after obtaining caregivers’ informed consent. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s α in SPSS 26, and construct validity was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using Mplus 8.1. Results: A total of 2442 (82.12%) efficacy questionnaires were retrieved. The participants included 1303 (53.36%) boys and 1139 (46.64%) girls, with ages ranging from 0.08 to 17.83 years. Cronbach’s α values were 0.695, 0.744 and 0.795 for Belief About Medicine Questionnaire -Specific, Belief About Medicine Questionnaire-Necessity and Belief about Medicine Questionnaire -Concern, respectively. Certificated factor analysis indicated acceptable fitness for the two-factor model. Bivariate Correlation revealed the weak associations between demographic characteristics and two subscales. Conclusions: Belief about Medicines Questionnaire-Specific was a reliable and valid tool in caregivers of children with epilepsy. There were weak associations between demographic characteristics and BMQ-S.