Objectives
This study was aimed to evaluate the one-year test-retest reliability of the Korea Sasang constitutional diagnostic
questionnaire (KS-15) in university students.
Methods
In March 2017, and March 2018, a survey was sent by email to 583 Korean medicine students in two universities. Of
these, 149 (25.6%) participated and completed the first survey (test) and second survey (retest). Participants responded
to the KS-15 questionnaire and the general characteristics including their age, sex, height, and weight. Cohen’s kappa
Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and agreement rate (%) were used for the test-retest reliability for each question
item and the diagnosis of the Sasang constitution. The independent T-test was used to determine the difference in BMI
between Sasang constitutional accordance and discordance groups obtained from the test-retest results of KS-15.
Results
The agreement of Sasang constitutional diagnosis was 75.8% (Kappa = 0.618), indicating that KS-15 had a certain level
(substantial) of test-retest reliability. However, the kappa of each item was 0.161 ~ 0.620, which showed a large difference
between the items. The agreements of each Sasang constitution were 85.1% for Taeeumin, 73.6% for Soeumin, and 58.6%
for Soyangin. There was no significant difference in the BMI change between Sasang constitutional accordance and
discordance groups in the test-retest.
Conclusions
These results indicate KS-15 has a reliable one-year test-retest reliability. However, further studies will be required to
improve reliability, validity and application across different age ranges for the practical utilization of KS-15. |
