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The PedsQL™ Infant Scales: feasibility, internal consistency reliability, and validity in healthy and ill infants
James W Varni1, Christine A Limbers, Katie Neighbors
1Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, 3137 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3137, USA. jvarni@archmail.tamu.edu
Insights
The PedsQL™ Infant Scales effectively measure health-related quality of life in infants aged 1-24 months. This tool shows good reliability and validity for assessing both healthy and ill infants.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Health Outcomes Research
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ (PedsQL™) assesses health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children.
- Existing PedsQL™ instruments cover ages 2-18.
- The PedsQL™ Infant Scales were developed for infants aged 1-24 months.
Purpose of the Study:
- Evaluate the initial feasibility, internal consistency reliability, and validity of the PedsQL™ Infant Scales.
- Assess the instrument's utility in healthy, acutely ill, and chronically ill infants.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 36-item (1-12 months) and 45-item (13-24 months) PedsQL™ Infant Scales.
- Included domains: Physical Functioning, Physical Symptoms, Emotional Functioning, Social Functioning, Cognitive Functioning.
- Collected data from 683 parents of infants across health statuses.
Main Results:
- PedsQL™ Infant Scales demonstrated minimal missing responses.
- Achieved excellent internal consistency reliability (Total Scale Score α = 0.92).
- Scales successfully differentiated between healthy, acutely ill, and chronically ill infants, with a valid factor structure.
Conclusions:
- The PedsQL™ Infant Scales exhibit promising initial measurement properties for infants.
- The instrument is suitable for evaluating generic HRQOL in infants aged 1-24 months.
- Supports the use of PedsQL™ Infant Scales in clinical and research settings.
Objective:
The PedsQL™ (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™) is a modular instrument designed to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and disease-specific symptoms in children and adolescents ages 2-18. The new PedsQL™ Infant Scales were designed as a generic HRQOL instrument specifically for healthy and ill infants ages 1-24 months. The objective of this study was to report on the initial feasibility, internal consistency reliability, and validity of the PedsQL™ Infant Scales in healthy, acutely ill, and chronically ill infants.
Methods:
The 36-item (ages 1-12 months) and 45-item (ages 13-24 months) PedsQL™ Infant Scales (Physical Functioning, Physical Symptoms, Emotional Functioning, Social Functioning, Cognitive Functioning) were completed by 683 parents of healthy, acutely ill, and chronically ill infants.
Results:
The PedsQL™ Infant Scales evidenced minimal missing responses, achieved excellent internal consistency reliability for the Total Scale Scores (α = 0.92), distinguished between healthy infants and acutely and chronically ill infants, and demonstrated a confirmatory factor structure largely consistent with the a priori conceptual model.
Conclusions:
The results demonstrate the initial measurement properties of the PedsQL™ Infant Scales in healthy and ill infants. The findings suggest that the PedsQL™ Infant Scales may be utilized in the evaluation of generic HRQOL in infants ages 1-24 months.
