Development of the PROMIS ® pediatric global health (PGH-7) measure

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health Outcomes
• Psychometrics
• Global Health Assessment

Background:

• Developing reliable measures for pediatric global health (PGH) is crucial for clinical practice, quality improvement, and research.
• Existing measures may not be suitable or efficient for pediatric populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create a practical, efficient, and dependable pediatric global health measure.
• The measure aims to support clinical applications, quality improvement initiatives, and research endeavors.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) mixed-methods approach for item bank development.
• An item pool was identified, ensuring comprehension by children as young as 8 years old.
• Psychometric properties were evaluated in a large internet panel sample comprising 3,635 children (8-17 years) and 1,807 parents (5-17 years).

Main Results:

• The final Pediatric Global Health (PGH)-7 measure consists of 7 items covering general, physical, mental, and social health.
• High internal consistency (child-report: 0.88, parent-report: 0.84) and excellent test-retest reliability were observed.
• The measure demonstrated factor invariance across age categories and no differential item functioning by demographic factors.

Conclusions:

• The PROMIS PGH-7 is a brief, reliable, 7-item instrument for assessing a child's global health.
• Its design allows for estimation using a single, widely recognized general health rating question.
• The measure is suitable for diverse applications in pediatric health.