Chinese translation, cultural adaptation, and psychometric testing of the patient education materials assessment tool for audiovisual materials

Abstract Background The provision of health information that can be easily understood by the general public can help improve health behaviors. However, there is a lack of tools to assess the quality of health education videos in the Chinese context. These tools are essential for the popularization of health education videos. There are various existing tools for evaluating health education video quality in the English context. Among them, the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials (PEMAT-A/V) is one of the most commonly used tools. However, this scale has not been adjusted for the Chinese context and verified for use in the Chinese population. Methods The Brislin translation model was applied to achieve Chinesization and cultural adjustment of the PEMAT-A/V, resulting in the C-PEMAT-A/V. Videos depicting health information related to periodontosis on TikTok, MicroBlog, and Bilibili were identified using a convenient sampling method. Items in the C-PEMAT-A/V scale were analyzed by the critical ratio method and correlation coefficient method. The content validity of the scale was tested by the expert evaluation method. The criterion validity of the scale was tested using the modified DISCERN. The internal consistency of the scale was tested by Cronbach's α, and the inter-rater reliability was tested by Cohen’s Kappa coefficient, the average percentage agreement, and Gwet’s AC1. Results After literal translation, back translation, and cultural adjustment, the C-PEMAT-A/V scale was reduced from 17 items to 13 items. The item content validity index (I-CVI) of the scale was 0.83-1.00 and the average content validity index (S-CVI) was 0.96. The correlation coefficient of criterion validity was r = 0.647 (p < 0.01). The Cronbach's α coefficient of the C-PEMAT-A/V scale was 0.703, Cohen’s Kappa coefficient was 0.86, the average percentage agreement was 87.7%, and Gwet’s AC1 was 0.873. Conclusions The C-PEMAT-A/V scale has good reliability and validity. It can be used to evaluate the understandability of health science videos in the Chinese context.