Abstract: Objective: To translate the Short Health Scale (SHS) for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) formulated by Dr. Henrik from Swedish into Chinese, test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version, and evaluate its feasibility in China. Methods: The Chinese version of SHS for IBD was developed and the reliability, validity and known-groups validity of the scale were evaluated among 154 patients with IBD. Results: The Cronbach 'alpha coefficient of the Chinese version was 0.887 and 0.914 in the patients with Crohn's Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC), respectively, the retest reliability of each item was more than 0.7. Each item of the scale showed good correlation with the similar dimension of the 22-item IBD quality-of-life questionnaire (IBDQOL-22) and the Chinese version of the Rating Form of IBD Patient Concerns (RFIPC), and was moderately correlated with the disease activity index. The patients with CD and UC were divided into the active group and the remission group respectively. Except for the item of conditions consciously felt by patients with CD, comparison of the rest items between the two groups showed difference with statistical significance (P<0.05). Conclusion: The Chinese version of the SHS for patients with IBD has good reliability, validity and known-groups validity, and can be used for the evaluation of the health related quality of life of patients with IBD.

Key words: Inflammatory Bowel Disease; Short Health Scale; reliability; validity