At what age can children report dependably on their asthma health status?
OBJECTIVE
This study examined psychometric properties and feasibility issues surrounding child-reported asthma health status data.


METHODS
In separate interviews, parents and children completed 3 visits. Child questionnaires were interviewer administered. The primary instrument was the Children's Health Survey for Asthma-Child Version, used to compute 3 scales (physical health, activities, and emotional health). The following were assessed: reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability), validity (general health status, symptom burden, and lung function), and feasibility (completion time, missing data, and inconsistent responses).


RESULTS
A total of 414 parent-child pairs completed the study (mean child age: 11.5 years). Reliability estimates for the activities and emotional health scales were > .70 in all but 1 age category; 5 of 9 age groups had acceptable internal consistency ratings (> or = .70) for the physical health scale. Cronbach's alpha tended to increase with child age. In general, test-retest correlations between forms and intraclass correlation coefficients were strong for all ages but tended to increase with child age. Correlations between forms ranged from .57 (7-year-old subjects, physical health) to .96 (14-year-old subjects, activities). Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from .76 (13-year-old subjects, emotional health) to .94 (15-16-year-old subjects, physical health). Children with less symptom burden reported higher mean Children's Health Survey for Asthma-Child Version scores (indicating better health status) for each scale, at significant levels for nearly all age groups. Children's Health Survey for Asthma-Child Version completion times decreased from 12.9 minutes at age 7 to 6.9 minutes at age 13.


CONCLUSIONS
This research indicates that children with asthma as young as 7 may be dependable and valuable reporters of their health. Data quality tends to improve with age.
Olson
Lynn M
LM
Department of Research, American Academy of Pediatrics, 141 Northwest Point Blvd, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007, USA. lolson@aap.org
Radecki
Linda
L
Frintner
Mary Pat
MP
Weiss
Kevin B
KB
Korfmacher
Jon
J
Siegel
Robert M
RM
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires