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The PedsQL Brain Tumor Module: initial reliability and validity
Stephanie N Palmer1, Kathleen A Meeske, Ernest R Katz
1Childrens Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Insights
The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Brain Tumor Module shows good reliability and validity for assessing quality of life in children with brain tumors. This tool helps measure the health outcomes for pediatric cancer patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Health Outcomes Research
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Brain tumors are the most common pediatric cancer after leukemia, with improving survival rates.
- Increased survival necessitates a focus on quality of life as a critical health outcome.
- The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Brain Tumor Module is a tool designed to assess this.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the internal consistency reliability of the PedsQL Brain Tumor Module.
- To assess the construct validity of the PedsQL Brain Tumor Module.
- To determine the measurement properties of this quality of life instrument for pediatric brain tumor patients.
Main Methods:
- Administered PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales, Fatigue Scale, and Brain Tumor Module to 99 families.
- Sample included children aged 2-18 with various tumor locations and treatment statuses.
- Data collected from parent proxy-reports and child self-reports.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated strong internal consistency reliability for the PedsQL Brain Tumor Module (average alpha=0.78-0.92 for parents, 0.76-0.87 for children).
- Supported construct validity through analysis of correlations with Generic Core Scales and Fatigue Scale.
- The module's measurement properties were confirmed.
Conclusions:
- The PedsQL Brain Tumor Module exhibits favorable measurement properties.
- Findings support its use in assessing quality of life for pediatric brain tumor survivors.
- This validates the tool for research and clinical practice in pediatric neuro-oncology.
Background:
Brain tumors (BT) are second only to acute lymphoblastic leukemia as the most prevalent form of pediatric cancer, with BT 5-year survival rates approaching 70%. With increased survival, quality of life has emerged as an essential health outcome. This investigation examines the internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Brain Tumor Module.
Methods:
The PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales, PedsQL Multidimensional Fatigue Scale, and PedsQL Brain Tumor Module were administered to 99 families. The average age of the 56 boys and 43 girls was 9.76 years (range=2-18 years). The sample included children with tumors located in the posterior fossa/brainstem (N=62, 62.6%), supratentorial (N=15, 15.2%), and midline (N=22, 22.2%). Children were on treatment (N=46, 46.5%), off treatment<12 months (N=19, 19.2%), or off treatment>12 months/long-term survivor (N=34, 34.3%). Treatment included radiation (N=61, 61.6%), surgery (N=83, 83.8%), chemotherapy (N=87, 87.9%), and bone marrow transplant (N=5, 5.1%).
Results:
Internal consistency reliability was demonstrated for the 24-item PedsQL Brain Tumor Module (average alpha=0.78-0.92, parent proxy-report, n=99; average alpha=0.76-0.87, child self-report, n=51). Construct validity for the PedsQL Brain Tumor Module was supported through an analysis of the intercorrelations with the Generic Core Scales and Fatigue Scale.
Conclusions:
The findings provide support for the measurement properties of the PedsQL Brain Tumor Module.
