A novel pediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis Symptoms and Adaptive Behavior Scale for different ages: GaziESAS v2.0

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Gastroenterology
• Clinical Assessment Tools
• Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorders

Background:

• Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) requires validated tools to assess symptoms and adaptive behaviors (AB) across pediatric age groups.
• Current assessment methods may lack the necessary quality, reliability, and age-specific applicability for children with EoE.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a high-quality pediatric scale (HQS) for measuring EoE symptoms and AB in children and adolescents.
• To create age-specific forms of the scale suitable for different pediatric age ranges and their parents.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Gazi University Eosinophilic Esophagitis Symptoms and Adaptive Behavior Scale (GaziESAS) version 2.0 (v2.0) involving item generation and domain identification.
• Assessment of content validity (CnV), construct validity (CsV) via field testing, and convergent validity (CgV) by correlating with PEESS v2.0.
• Evaluation of reliability using internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients - ICC).

Main Results:

• The study included 19 children, 42 teens, and 82 parents, with GaziESAS v2.0 comprising 20 items across symptom and AB domains.
• Excellent content validity indexes were achieved for all items.
• Good to excellent convergent validity (r=0.6 to 0.9) and good reliability (Cronbach's α >0.7, ICC >0.6) were demonstrated.

Conclusions:

• GaziESAS v2.0 is the first pediatric HQS designed to quantify EoE symptoms and AB frequency over the past month.
• The scale offers distinct forms tailored for children, teens, and parents, enhancing its clinical utility for diverse pediatric populations with EoE.