Cross-cultural implementation of a Chinese version of the Schedules for Clinical Asessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) in Taiwan

Background There are no published reports of cross-cultural equivalence and interrater reliability at the level of individual symptom items assessed by a semi-structured clinical interview employing operationalised clinician ratings. Aims To assess the cross-cultural clinical equivalence and reliability of a Chinese version of the World Health Organization Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN). Method UK-US and Taiwanese groups of psychiatrists used Chinese and English transcripts of videotape interviews of Taiwanese patients to discuss cross -cultural issues and ratings of SCAN items. Item ratings were compared quantitatively individually and pooled by SCAN section. Results Chinese equivalents were found for all SCAN items, No between -group differences were found for most individual items, butt here were differences for some scaled items, Average agreement between the two groups was 69-100%. Conclusions Cross-cultural implementation based on SCAN in Taiwan appears valid. Declaration of interest This work was supported by a grant from the Taiwan National Health Research Institutes (DD01-861X-MD-601S).