The Pedsql^TM 4.0 In Tourette Syndrome: Reliability, Validity And Sensitivity Of The Chinese Version Pediatric Quality Of Life Inventory Generic Core Scales

PurposeThis investigation examines the feasibility, reliability and validity of the Chinese version Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 Generic Core Scales in pediatric Tourette Syndrome (TS).MethodsThe study sample was comprised of 134 tourette syndrome children and 107 healthy children without acute or chronic disease age from 5-18 years old, as well as their respective parents or care caregivers. The feasibily, reliability and validity of PedsQL were computed. Percentage of missing item can reflect feasibility. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity was assessed utilizing exploratory factor analysis and content validity was assessed by exploring the correlations between each item and the four PedsQL subscales for children and parents. Validity was further assessed by compare intercorrelations of each subscale between self-report and proxy-report. Independent t-test was used to assess the differences between healthy children and children with Tourette syndrome.ResultsThe percentage of missing item responses was 0.37% for parent proxy-report and no item was missed for child self-report. Cronbach's alpha was 0.910 for proxy-report and 0.866 for self-report. The PedsQL 4.0 distinguished between healthy children with TS. The results of the factor analysis for proxy-report scale in general support the hypothesized factor structure of the PedsQL. Factor loadings for child self-report did not as clear as parent proxy-report and this may be due to the lower reliability proved by internal consistency. Correlations between children self-report and parent proxy-report was significant.Conclusions1. The Chinese version of the PedsQLTM 4.0 Generic Core Scales for 5-18 year-old children with Tourette syndrome has satisfactory feasibility and reliabity.2. Construct validity and discrimination validity of the Chinese version of the PedsQLTM 4.0 Generic Core Scales in children with Tourett syndrome is good.3. The Chinese version of the PedsQLTM 4.0 Generic Core Scales may be used in assessing the quality of life for 5-18 year-old children with Tourette syndrome in China, especially for parent proxy-report4. The result of the study was mainly consistent with initial scales. But the sample is not large enough and most Tourette syndrome children were from southwest of China, this may limit generalize ability of the findings. Further research with large sample should be done.