Reliability And Validity Of The Pediatric Quality Of Life Inventory Version 4.0 Generic Core Scale In Young Children

Objective Examine the reliability and validity of Chinese version of Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Version 4.0 (PedsQL? 4.0) Generic Core Scales for 2- to 7-year-old Chinese children.Methods1. The instrument was administered by interviews in two groups: 218 healthy children and 119 patients with cerebral palsy, as well as their respective parents or caregivers were included.2. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach's alpha.3. Construct validity was assessed using exploratory factor analysis and by exploring the intercorrelations between and among the four subscales.Results1. Cronbach's alpha of most PedsQL? 4.0's subscales exceeded or approached the minimum reliability standard of 0.70.2. For all scales, the scores of the healthy children are higher than patients, except the child self-report Emotional Functioning scale.3. Factor analysis showed results in general support the hypothesized factor structure of the original version.4. The correlation between the child self-reports and the parent proxy reports mainly exceed the preferred intra-class correlation of 0.40.Conclusions 1. The feasibility of the Chinese PedsQL? 4.0 version Generic Core Scales is good, and it is a valid and reliable measurement which can be used in Chinese mainland.2. The Chinese PedsQL? 4.0 version Generic Core Scale can be used in assessing the HRQOL of young children who are in the equivalent condition of the participants in the study.3.The results of the study were mainly consistent with initial scales. But the small sample and the age rang utilized was quite restricted, which may limit generalize ability of the findings. Further research should be done in children with large sample and upper-age range.