The Health Status Questionnaire: achieving concordance with published disability criteria.

Area of Science:

• Neonatal care
• Pediatric disability assessment
• Developmental pediatrics

Background:

• Preterm and very low birthweight infants face significant risks of long-term disability.
• Accurate and efficient assessment tools are crucial for monitoring developmental outcomes in this vulnerable population.
• Existing disability assessment methods can be resource-intensive.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the Health Status Questionnaire (HSQ) as a tool for assessing disability in preterm and very low birthweight infants.
• To compare the HSQ's performance against established disability assessment criteria.
• To determine the feasibility and comparability of the HSQ in clinical follow-up settings.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of preterm (<31 weeks gestation) and very low birthweight (<1500g) survivors born in Wales were identified.
• Assessments were conducted by a single observer at a median corrected age of 28.3 months.
• The Health Status Questionnaire was administered alongside a Griffiths developmental test, with outcomes compared to three published disability criteria sets.

Main Results:

• Of 297 survivors, 279 (94%) were assessed.
• The HSQ identified severe disability in 12.9% of infants, compared to 8.2% (Northern), 2.9% (Victorian), and 3.6% (Mersey) using other criteria.
• Modified HSQ criteria (excluding growth, reclassifying severe disability) yielded comparable severe disability rates of 7.9% to 9.3%.

Conclusions:

• The Health Status Questionnaire is a rapid, training-free tool for assessing disability.
• Simple modifications to the HSQ allow for results comparable to established methods.
• The HSQ is a valuable and recommended tool for the follow-up of preterm and very low birthweight infants.