Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Measurements of Motor Function and Other Clinical Outcome Parameters in Ambulant Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Published on: January 12, 2019
Measuring the function of children with juvenile arthritis
A Tennant1, S Kearns, F Turner
1Rheumatology & Rehabilitation Research Unit, School of Medicine, The University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Insights
This study validated disability measures for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in UK children. The Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) is recommended until better options are available.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Rheumatology
- Clinical Assessment Tools
- Childhood Disability Measurement
Background:
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) significantly impacts childhood development and daily activities.
- Existing disability measures for JIA lack validation for use in the UK population.
- There is a need for reliable and validated functional assessment tools for children with JIA in the UK.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare and validate four established disability measures for JIA.
- To assess a locally developed functional test for JIA in UK children.
- To identify the most suitable measure for assessing function in pediatric arthritis.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 53 children aged 5-16 years with JIA (mean age 10.4 years, disease duration 4 years).
- Evaluated five different disability and function measures, including a local functional test.
- Assessed internal consistency, reliability, and unidimensionality of the measures.
Main Results:
- Three of the five measures demonstrated adequate internal consistency.
- Four measures showed statistically significant associations between disease activity and functional status (P<0.05).
- Measures involving direct therapist assessment exhibited poor reliability, and most lacked unidimensionality.
Conclusions:
- The Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) is currently the most recommended measure for assessing function in children with JIA.
- Further development of validated assessment tools for pediatric arthritis in the UK is warranted.
- The CHAQ provides a reliable option for functional assessment in JIA pending new measure availability.
Objective:
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) can affect a child's performance across a range of activities necessary to normal childhood development. Although there are now several available measures of disability in JIA, none have been validated for use with children in the UK. Consequently, a study was undertaken to compare and validate four such measures, together with a locally developed function test.
Methods:
Fifty-three children between the ages of 5 and 16 yr were recruited into the study. The mean age was 10.4 yr and mean duration of disease 4 yr. Seventy per cent were female.
Results:
Internal consistency was adequate in three of five measures. Four of five measures showed the expected associations between disease activity and function (P<0.05). The level of reliability was poor for tests that involved direct assessment by therapists. Most showed poor levels of unidimensionality.
Conclusion:
Until new measures become available, the CHAQ appears to be the current 'best buy' for measuring function in children with arthritis.
Related Concept Videos
01:15Myasthenia Gravis: Diagnostic Tests
The edrophonium test is a diagnostic tool for myasthenia gravis. It involves...
01:22Rheumatic Heart Disease II: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Studies
01:25Inflammatory Bowel Disease III: Crohn's Disease