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Development and Evaluation of the Quality of Life Scale for Children With Visual Impairments in China
Jie Liu1, Richard Evans2, Yanjun Wang3
1School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China.
Insights
A new Quality of Life Scale for Children with Visual Impairments (QOLS-CVI) was developed and validated in China. This reliable and valid tool assesses the quality of life and social participation for visually impaired children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric health outcomes research
- Ophthalmology and vision science
- Psychometrics and scale development
Background:
- Visual impairments significantly impact health-related quality of life in children.
- Non-correctable vision loss, including blindness and low vision, necessitates specialized assessment tools.
- Existing quality of life measures may not fully capture the experiences of visually impaired children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the reliability, validity, and discrimination of the Quality of Life Scale for Children with Visual Impairments (QOLS-CVI) in China.
- To develop a culturally relevant and psychometrically sound instrument for evaluating visually impaired children's quality of life.
- To provide a tool for understanding the impact of visual impairment on children's well-being and social participation.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual frameworks and item libraries were derived from the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 and WHOQOL-DIS.
- Expert consultations and group discussions informed scale modification and draft development.
- Classical test theory and item response theory guided item selection through preliminary and formal surveys in special schools.
Main Results:
- The final QOLS-CVI comprises 38 items across 10 subdomains and 6 domains.
- Reliability was confirmed with Cronbach's alpha (0.841), split-half (0.629), and test-retest (0.888) coefficients.
- Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the scale's validity, demonstrating good model fit for visually impaired children.
Conclusions:
- The QOLS-CVI is a reliable, valid, and feasible tool for assessing quality of life in visually impaired children.
- The scale demonstrates effectiveness in evaluating the quality of life and social participation abilities of this population.
- The QOLS-CVI can be utilized as a crucial evaluation instrument in research and clinical practice for visually impaired children in China.
Background:
Visual impairments related to non-correctable vision loss, including blindness and low vision, have been consistently shown to lower a person's health-related quality of life. This study assessed the reliability, validity, and discrimination of the Quality of Life Scale for Children with Visual Impairments (QOLS-CVI) in China.
Methods:
The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 and World Health Organization Quality of Life-Disability Scale for physical disability were selected to define conceptual frameworks and item libraries based on relevant existing studies. According to two rounds of expert consultations and group discussions, some items were modified, and the draft scale was developed. Two item selection processes based on classical test theory and item response theory were used to conduct a preliminary survey and a formal survey in special schools in Shanxi and Hebei Provinces. Finally, the reliability and validity of the quality of life scale for visually impaired children in China were verified.
Results:
The final QOLS-CVI consisted of 38 items, 10 subdomains, and 6 domains. Reliability was verified by Cronbach's alpha coefficient, split-half reliability, and test-retest reliability (Cronbach's alpha for the full scale, 0.841; split-half reliability, 0.629; and test-retest reliability, 0.888). The validity results showed that the multidimensional scale met expectations: exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis indicated good fitting models for children with visual impairments.
Conclusions:
The QOLS-CVI was determined to be reliable and valid and to have strong feasibility and effectiveness. This scale can be used as an evaluation tool to study the QOL and social-participation ability of children with visual impairments.
