Faculty Collaboration Database

Measuring global health-related quality of life in children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant: a longitudinal study. Health Qual Life Outcomes 2013 Feb 26;11:26

Date

02/28/2013

Pubmed ID

23442200

Pubmed Central ID

PMC3644228

DOI

10.1186/1477-7525-11-26

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84874210474 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   25 Citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pediatric health-related quality of life (HRQL) measures explore multiple domains of HRQL. To ease administration, burden, and implementation, we created a 7-item unidimensional global HRQL scale for children. This paper evaluates the psychometric properties of the global HRQL scale in children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) and describes the trajectory of global HRQL scores over the 12-month course following HSCT.

METHODS: As part of two longitudinal HSCT studies, HRQL was collected on 312 parent-child dyads using the Child Health Ratings Inventories. Parents of children aged 5-18 completed the pediatric global HRQL scale about their child and 117 adolescents completed the scale themselves. Psychometric properties were compared across both raters. Two repeated measures models were built to describe trajectories of (1) global HRQL for all children based on parent proxy report and (2) global HRQL for adolescents based on adolescent self-report and parent proxy report.

RESULTS: Internal consistency reliability was high for parent proxy report and adolescent self-report (Cronbach's alpha 0.9, 0.8, respectively). Unidimensionality was verified using principal components analysis. Both models indicated decreased global HRQL in the presence of early complications related to HSCT and Model 1 further indicated decreased HRQL in the presence of later complications. Model 2 showed that parent proxies reported lower global HRQL scores than adolescent self-report.

CONCLUSIONS: This study has demonstrated the unidimensionality and strong psychometric properties of a 7-item global HRQL scale in a sample of children undergoing HSCT. Despite its brevity, scale scores vary in clinically meaningful ways. Future applications of this scale are encouraged.

Author List

Rodday AM, Terrin N, Parsons SK, Journeys to Recovery Study, HSCT-CHESS™ Study

Author

Kristin M. Bingen PhD Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Child
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Humans
Psychometrics
Quality Indicators, Health Care
Quality of Life
Reproducibility of Results
Self Report
Surveys and Questionnaires