Journal of Geriatric Oncology · Jul 23, 2025
Translation and psychometric validation of the Chinese version of the self-administered Geriatric-8 (S-G8) questionnaire for older patients with cancer
By Tan X, Mao P, Yu H et al.
INTRODUCTION: We aimed to translate and cross-culturally validate the Self-administered Geriatric-8 (S-G8) into Chinese and investigate its psychometric properties in older Chinese patients with cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted at four hospitals. Participants were eligible if they were at least 60 years old and diagnosed with cancer. The translation process included seven steps: obtaining authorization, forward translation, reconciliation, backward translation, expert review, cognitive debriefing, and finalization. The final iteration of the S-G8 was evaluated along with the original Geriatric-8 (G8) in a linguistic validation study (N = 207) by calculating the psychometric properties including criterion validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and known-groups validity. Known-groups validation was assessed to quantify the differences between Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (<2 vs. ≥2), and patient purpose within treatment (palliative vs. others). RESULTS: We obtained permission to perform the S-G8 translation work on December 5, 2023. It took four weeks to complete the first five translation steps. Among the two-round cognitive debriefing, 12 items received revised comments from patient interviews. A strong correlation was found between G8 and S-G8 scores (r = 0.84, p < 0.001). Internal consistency was acceptable at 0.60, and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.82. The frequency of abnormality (<14 scores) for G8 and S-G8 was 52.9% and 56.8%, respectively. DISCUSSION: The Chinese version of the S-G8 questionnaire has been validated according to standard procedures. Consequently, it is deemed suitable as a geriatric screening tool for older adults with cancer in China.