A scale for assessing the health of children aged 3-6 years in China: development and validation of the TCM constitution scale (3-6 years).

Background: Based on the Chinese Medicine constitution, this study developed a questionnaire specifically tailored for preschool children. Methods: First, a TCM constitution scale for children aged 3-6 years was developed using face-to-face interviews, Delphi expert consultation, and Classical Test Theory (CTT). The Delphi method was conducted via email, and five CTT indicators were selected: decision value-critical ratio, dispersion trend, item-total correlation, internal consistency, and factor loading. Second, the psychometric properties of the scale were assessed, including reliability (internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and split-half reliability) and content validity. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to evaluate the structural validity of the items. Results: The CCMQ 2.0 consisted of 47 items selected from the original 49 items of version 1.0. Exploratory factor analysis yielded a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value of 0.886, and Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (χ 2 = 5308.679, p < 0.001), indicating that the data were suitable for factor analysis. Nine common factors were extracted, accounting for a cumulative variance contribution of 52.853%. The internal consistency of the CCMQ 2.0 was high, with a Cronbach's α of 0.924, and the test-retest reliability was satisfactory, with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.86. Overall, the scale showed promising preliminary psychometric properties, although further validation is needed. Conclusion: This study developed and preliminarily evaluated a 47-item Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) constitution scale for assessing the physical and mental health of children aged 3 to 6 years. The scale demonstrated good reliability and validity, providing a promising alternative tool for large-scale pediatric health assessments.