Abstract: Objective To develop an Tibetan version of the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) and and validate it for the patients with congestive heart failure(CHF). Methods The English version of MLHFQ was translated into Tibetan . It consisted of the following processes: forward translation → the first conference→ backward translation → the second and the third conferences → pilot test → final version. A prospective study, which involved 80 patients with chronic heart failure on the first day of hospitalization, was conducted in the People's Hospital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. All patients in the control group and CHF patients included in the reliability study were retested approximately 7 days after the initial administration of the Tibetan version of MLHFQ. Content validity was evaluated by Content Validity Index (CVI). Internal consistency and repeatability were evaluated by Cronbach's ɑ and Intra-Class Correlation Coefficient (ICC). To assess the applicability of the data in factor analysis, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) sampling sufficiency measurements and Bartlett spherical tests were tested. If applicable, the structural validity of the Tibetan version of MLHFQ was evaluated by exploratory factor analysis. Results All the questions in the Tibetan version of the questionnaire had a good cultural relevance. In order to adapt to the Tibetan expression, question 8 and 11 had been revised.The effective rate of the questionnaire was 100% (160/160). The content validity index of the expert group evaluation was 0.96. All items in the questionnaire were Cronbach'sα> 0.70, ICC are all >0.6 calibration items - total correlation coefficient was 0.204-0.774. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) sampling adequacy measurement = 0.80 indicated that the sample size in this study is sufficient. Bartlett's sphericity test result (χ2=1124.8, p <0.001) indicated the display data was suitable for factor analysis, and the factor analysis results suggested that the Tibetan version of MLHFQ has a structural validity consistent with the original English scale.Conclusion: The Tibetan version of the MLHFQ had good validity and reliability to evaluate the quality of life of Tibetan patients with chronic heart failure.

Key words: chronic heart failure, Tibetan version of Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ), quality of life, reliability, validity