Faculty Collaboration Database

Health-related quality of life in pediatric minor injury: reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory in the emergency department. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2012 Jan;166(1):74-81

Date

01/04/2012

Pubmed ID

22213754

Pubmed Central ID

PMC3714102

DOI

10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.694

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84855317864 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   16 Citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility, reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 Generic Core Scales (PedsQL) in the first 2 weeks after pediatric emergency department care of minor injury.

DESIGN: Prospective cohort study.

SETTING: Pediatric hospital emergency department.

PARTICIPANTS: Children and adolescents with minor injury (n = 334).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Child- and parent-reported clinical outcomes and PedsQL scale scores.

RESULTS: The PedsQL had good to excellent internal consistency reliability (α range, 0.73-0.93). For each day that the clinical symptoms persisted, there were consistent decreases in mean health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores (validity testing). There were significantly greater negative changes in mean HRQOL scores for fractures vs soft-tissue injuries and for lower vs upper extremity injuries. Clinical outcomes categorized as poor had large negative changes in HRQOL not seen in good outcome groups. Distribution-based indicators of change supported good responsiveness (effect sizes for the physical summary score, 0.01-2.44; group differences at follow-up exceeded estimates of the minimal importance difference).

CONCLUSIONS: The PedsQL is feasible, reliable, and demonstrates good construct and discriminant validity and responsiveness in measuring short-term outcome after minor injury care in the pediatric emergency department. Assessing short-term outcome from the patient perspective with HRQOL measures may greatly enhance our ability to evaluate the effectiveness of emergency department care.

Author List

Stevens MW, Hainsworth KR, Weisman SJ, Layde PM

Authors

Keri Hainsworth PhD Director, Associate Professor in the Anesthesiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Steven J. Weisman MD Professor in the Anesthesiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

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

Adolescent
Child
Child, Preschool
Emergency Service, Hospital
Feasibility Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Prospective Studies
Quality of Life
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires
Treatment Outcome
Wounds and Injuries