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Establishing content validity of LIMB-Q Kids: a new patient-reported outcome measure for lower limb deformities
Harpreet Chhina1,2, Anne Klassen3, David Bade4,5
1Department of Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. hchhina@cw.bc.ca.
Insights
This study validated the content of LIMB-Q Kids, a new patient-reported outcome measure for children with lower limb deformities, ensuring it is comprehensive and relevant for clinical use.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Orthopedics
- Patient-Reported Outcomes
- Health Measurement
Background:
- Lower limb deformities significantly impact children's quality of life.
- Existing outcome measures may not fully capture the pediatric experience.
- Development of validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) is crucial for assessing treatment effectiveness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish the content validity of LIMB-Q Kids, a novel PROM for pediatric lower limb deformities.
- To assess the comprehension, comprehensiveness, and relevance of the LIMB-Q Kids instrument.
- To refine the LIMB-Q Kids based on feedback from child, parent, and clinician stakeholders.
Main Methods:
- Cognitive debriefing interviews (CDIs) were conducted with children experiencing lower limb deformities across Australia, Canada, and the USA.
- Expert input was gathered from parents and clinicians involved in pediatric lower limb deformity care.
- The reparative approach was used to analyze transcribed interviews and incorporate feedback.
Main Results:
- Forty participants, including patients, experts, and parents, provided feedback on the initial LIMB-Q Kids (10 scales, 124 items).
- Five rounds of iterative feedback led to the addition of 37 new items, with 33 specifically addressing leg symptoms.
- The final version of LIMB-Q Kids comprises 11 scales and 159 items, demonstrating enhanced content validity.
Conclusions:
- Content validity for the LIMB-Q Kids PROM in children with lower limb deformities has been successfully established.
- An international field-testing study and translation/cultural adaptation are in progress.
- Future development includes scoring algorithms to facilitate clinical practice and research integration.
Purpose:
To establish the content validity of LIMB-Q Kids, a new patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for children with lower limb deformities. This study focused on three key components of content validity, i.e., comprehension, comprehensiveness, and relevance.
Methods:
Cognitive debriefing interviews (CDIs) with children with lower limb deformities were performed, and expert input from parents and clinicians directly involved in the care of children with lower limb deformities was obtained. CDIs were conducted with children from sites in Australia, Canada, and the USA. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Analyses were conducted using the reparative approach, which involved close examination of the transcribed interviews and summarising edits after each interview.
Results:
Forty patients, experts, and parents reviewed LIMB-Q Kids and provided feedback. At the start, LIMB-Q Kids had 10 scales and 124 total items. Five rounds of input was obtained from children, parents, and experts. Overall, 37 new items were added. Thirty-three of the new items were included to measure symptoms experienced in different parts of the legs. Final version of LIMB-Q Kids had 11 scales and 159 items.
Conclusion:
This study established content validity of the LIMB-Q Kids, a new PROM for children with lower limb deformities. An international field-test study is underway. Translation and cultural adaptation are underway for sites where English is not the first language. Scoring algorithms will be developed, following which the scale could be used to inform clinical practice and research.
