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The PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales: sensitivity, responsiveness, and impact on clinical decision-making
James W Varni1, Michael Seid, Tara Smith Knight
1Center for Child Health Outcomes, Children's Hospital and Health Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, USA. jvarni@chsd.org
Insights
The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) effectively measures health-related quality of life in children. It shows sensitivity to disease severity and responsiveness to clinical changes, aiding decision-making.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health Outcomes
- Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) Measurement
- Clinical Assessment Tools
Background:
- Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 Generic Core Scales assess HRQOL in children aged 2-18.
- Scales are suitable for healthy and diverse pediatric populations, including those with acute/chronic conditions.
- The PedsQL 4.0 comprises 23 items across Physical, Emotional, Social, and School domains.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the sensitivity, responsiveness, and clinical utility of the PedsQL 4.0.
- To determine the PedsQL 4.0's impact on clinical decision-making in pediatric specialty clinics.
- To assess the PedsQL 4.0's effectiveness in measuring HRQOL across different pediatric conditions.
Main Methods:
- Administered PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales to 209 children and 269 parents.
- Recruited participants from pediatric cardiology, orthopedics, and rheumatology clinics.
- Assessed sensitivity, responsiveness, and impact on clinical decision-making.
Main Results:
- PedsQL demonstrated differential sensitivity to cardiac disease severity.
- The PedsQL showed responsiveness to clinical changes in pediatric orthopedics.
- In rheumatology, PedsQL use impacted clinical decisions, leading to improved HRQOL.
Conclusions:
- The PedsQL 4.0 is a valuable tool for assessing pediatric HRQOL.
- The PedsQL 4.0 is sensitive to disease severity and responsive to treatment.
- PedsQL data can inform clinical decisions and improve patient outcomes.
Abstract:
The PedsQL 4.0 (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory) Generic Core Scales are child self-report and parent proxy-report scales developed to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children and adolescents ages 2-18. The PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales consist of 23 items applicable for healthy school and community populations and pediatric populations with acute and chronic health conditions. The 4 PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales (Physical, Emotional, Social, School) were administered to 209 children and 269 parents (289 subjects accrued overall) recruited from pediatric cardiology, orthopedics, and rheumatology clinics. Sensitivity, responsiveness, and the impact on clinical decision-making were determined. The PedsQL was differentially sensitive to increasing degrees of cardiac disease severity in the cardiology clinic setting and responsive to clinical change over time in the pediatric orthopedics clinic setting. In the pediatric rheumatology clinic setting, the PedsQL demonstrated an impact on clinical decision-making, resulting in subsequent increases in HRQOL.