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The PedsQL: reliability and validity of the short-form generic core scales and Asthma Module
Kitty S Chan1, Rita Mangione-Smith, Tasha M Burwinkle
1RAND Corporation, Health Program, Santa Monica, California, USA. kchan@jhsph.edu
Insights
The PedsQL 4.0 SF15 and PedsQL 3.0 SF22 Asthma Module are reliable for assessing pediatric health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children with asthma. These tools effectively compare HRQoL across different clinical statuses in research.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health Outcomes Research
- Psychometrics
- Quality of Life Measurement
Background:
- Pediatric health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is crucial for understanding child well-being.
- Validated instruments are needed to efficiently measure HRQoL in clinical research.
- Shortened versions of existing instruments can improve data collection efficiency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reliability and validity of the PedsQL 4.0 SF15 (a short form of the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales) and the PedsQL 3.0 SF22 Asthma Module.
- To determine the suitability of these instruments for group-level comparisons in pediatric asthma research.
Main Methods:
- Administered the PedsQL 4.0 SF15 and PedsQL 3.0 SF22 Asthma Module via telephone to adolescents (12-18) and parents of children with asthma (2-11).
- Included healthy and chronically ill children for validity testing, matched by age, respondent status, and ethnicity.
- Assessed reliability using Cronbach's alpha and validity through comparisons with clinical status and functional measures.
Main Results:
- The PedsQL 4.0 SF15 Total Score and PedsQL 3.0 SF22 Asthma Module's Asthma Symptoms and Treatment Problems scales showed sufficient reliability (alpha >= 0.70) for group comparisons.
- Both instruments effectively distinguished between children of different clinical statuses and correlated with productivity and family functioning measures.
- The PedsQL 4.0 SF15 demonstrated psychometric properties comparable to its original, longer version.
Conclusions:
- The PedsQL 4.0 SF15 Total Score and the PedsQL 3.0 SF22 Asthma Module's Asthma Symptoms scale are reliable and valid for group-level comparisons.
- These shortened instruments are suitable for assessing generic and asthma-specific HRQoL in clinical research involving children with asthma.
Objective:
We sought to assess the reliability and validity of the PedsQL 4.0 SF15, a shortened version of the 23-item PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales, which is a pediatric health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instrument, and the PedsQL 3.0 SF22 Asthma Module, a short-form of the PedsQL 3.0 Asthma Module.
Methods:
The PedsQL 4.0 SF15 and the PedsQL 3.0 SF22 Asthma Module were administered by telephone to 125 adolescents (aged 12-18) and 338 parents of children with asthma (aged 2-11). Healthy (n = 451) and chronically ill (n = 422) children, matched by age, respondent status, and ethnicity to the asthma sample, provided data for selected validity tests.
Results:
The Total Score from the PedsQL 4.0 SF15 and the Asthma Symptoms scale and Treatment Problems scale from the PedsQL 3.0 SF22 Asthma Module were sufficiently reliable for group comparisons (alpha > or = 0.70 across all age groups) in the asthma sample. The PedsQL 4.0 SF15 and the PedsQL 3.0 SF22 Asthma Module were able to distinguish between children of different clinical status and correlated as expected with measures of productivity and family functioning in the asthma sample. The psychometric properties of the PedsQL 4.0 SF15 were generally comparable to those of the original instrument.
Conclusion:
The Total Score of the PedsQL 4.0 SF15 and the Asthma Symptoms scale of the PedsQL 3.0 SF22 Asthma Module demonstrated the best reliability and validity and should be suitable for group-level comparisons of generic and asthma-specific HRQoL in clinical research studies of children with asthma.
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