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Background <p>Persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) refer to a group of clinical syndromes characterized by recurrent or persistent bodily discomfort lasting ≥ 3 months, such as chronic fatigue, refractory dizziness, and persistent pain. Patients with PSS often face stigma due to the absence of a clear organic etiology, which can exacerbate psychological distress, reduce treatment adherence, and hinder timely medical help-seeking. Healthcare professionals’ biased perceptions or othering toward PSS may further impede accurate diagnosis and optimal care. To date, no standardized tool is available in China to measure stigma among healthcare professionals toward PSS.</p> Aim <p>This study aimed to translate the Persistent Somatic Symptom Stigma Scale for Healthcare Professionals (PSSS-HCP) into Chinese (PSSS-HCP-C), conduct cross-cultural adaptation, and examine its reliability and validity in a sample of Chinese healthcare professionals.</p> Methods <p>Following Brislin’s translation model, the original PSSS-HCP was forward-translated, synthesized, back-translated, reviewed by an expert committee, and pretested for cultural adaptation. A convenience sample of 282 healthcare professionals was recruited from March to April 2025 for psychometric testing, with 30 participants completing the retest after two weeks. Content validity was assessed by the content validity index. Construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis. Reliability was evaluated by Cronbach’s α, split-half reliability, and test-retest reliability.</p> Results <p>The Chinese version of the PSSS-HCP comprised 13 items across three dimensions: othering, uneasiness in interaction, and non-disclosure. The item-level content validity index (CVI) ranged from 0.80 to 1.00, with a scale-level CVI of 0.946. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) extracted three common factors, explaining 66.692% of the total variance, with factor loadings between 0.743 and 0.885. The overall Cronbach’s α was 0.867, with subscale α coefficients ranging from 0.817 to 0.872. The split-half reliability was 0.798, and the test-retest reliability was 0.897.</p> Conclusions <p>The Chinese version of the PSSS-HCP demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity and can be used to assess healthcare professionals’ stigma toward patients with PSS in China. This tool provides a robust measurement basis for developing interventions to reduce stigma, enhance clinical attitudes, and inform policy-making in PSS management.</p> Clinical trial number <p>not applicable.</p>

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Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of the persistent somatic symptom stigma scale for healthcare professionals (PSSS-HCP-C): a cross-sectional study

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月25日

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  • Fengjuan Zhao,
  • Qing Yang,
  • Yanfei Sun,
  • Meng Zhao,
  • Haiyang Song,
  • Jiejie Ge,
  • Sijing Peng

摘要

Background

Persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) refer to a group of clinical syndromes characterized by recurrent or persistent bodily discomfort lasting ≥ 3 months, such as chronic fatigue, refractory dizziness, and persistent pain. Patients with PSS often face stigma due to the absence of a clear organic etiology, which can exacerbate psychological distress, reduce treatment adherence, and hinder timely medical help-seeking. Healthcare professionals’ biased perceptions or othering toward PSS may further impede accurate diagnosis and optimal care. To date, no standardized tool is available in China to measure stigma among healthcare professionals toward PSS.

Aim

This study aimed to translate the Persistent Somatic Symptom Stigma Scale for Healthcare Professionals (PSSS-HCP) into Chinese (PSSS-HCP-C), conduct cross-cultural adaptation, and examine its reliability and validity in a sample of Chinese healthcare professionals.

Methods

Following Brislin’s translation model, the original PSSS-HCP was forward-translated, synthesized, back-translated, reviewed by an expert committee, and pretested for cultural adaptation. A convenience sample of 282 healthcare professionals was recruited from March to April 2025 for psychometric testing, with 30 participants completing the retest after two weeks. Content validity was assessed by the content validity index. Construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis. Reliability was evaluated by Cronbach’s α, split-half reliability, and test-retest reliability.

Results

The Chinese version of the PSSS-HCP comprised 13 items across three dimensions: othering, uneasiness in interaction, and non-disclosure. The item-level content validity index (CVI) ranged from 0.80 to 1.00, with a scale-level CVI of 0.946. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) extracted three common factors, explaining 66.692% of the total variance, with factor loadings between 0.743 and 0.885. The overall Cronbach’s α was 0.867, with subscale α coefficients ranging from 0.817 to 0.872. The split-half reliability was 0.798, and the test-retest reliability was 0.897.

Conclusions

The Chinese version of the PSSS-HCP demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity and can be used to assess healthcare professionals’ stigma toward patients with PSS in China. This tool provides a robust measurement basis for developing interventions to reduce stigma, enhance clinical attitudes, and inform policy-making in PSS management.

Clinical trial number

not applicable.