Testing the structural and cross-cultural validity of the KIDSCREEN-27 quality of life questionnaire.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to assess the structural and cross-cultural validity of the KIDSCREEN-27 questionnaire.


METHODS
The 27-item version of the KIDSCREEN instrument was derived from a longer 52-item version and was administered to young people aged 8-18 years in 13 European countries in a cross-sectional survey. Structural and cross-cultural validity were tested using multitrait multi-item analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and Rasch analyses. Zumbo's logistic regression method was applied to assess differential item functioning (DIF) across countries. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha.


RESULTS
Responses were obtained from n = 22,827 respondents (response rate 68.9%). For the combined sample from all countries, exploratory factor analysis with procrustean rotations revealed a five-factor structure which explained 56.9% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated an acceptable model fit (RMSEA = 0.068, CFI = 0.960). The unidimensionality of all dimensions was confirmed (INFIT: 0.81-1.15). Differential item functioning (DIF) results across the 13 countries showed that 5 items presented uniform DIF whereas 10 displayed non-uniform DIF. Reliability was acceptable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.78-0.84 for individual dimensions).


CONCLUSIONS
There was substantial evidence for the cross-cultural equivalence of the KIDSCREEN-27 across the countries studied and the factor structure was highly replicable in individual countries. Further research is needed to correct scores based on DIF results. The KIDSCREEN-27 is a new short and promising tool for use in clinical and epidemiological studies.
School of Medicine, Perceived Health Research Unit, Marseille, France.
Stephane
S
Robitail
Ulrike
U
Ravens-Sieberer
Marie-Claude
MC
Simeoni
Luis
L
Rajmil
Jeanet
J
Bruil
Mick
M
Power
Wolfgang
W
Duer
Bernhard
B
Cloetta
Ladislav
L
Czemy
Joanna
J
Mazur
Agnes
A
Czimbalmos
Yannis
Y
Tountas
Curt
C
Hagquist
Jean
J
Kilroe
Pascal
P
Auquier
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D054521:Cultural Competency; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003469:Culture; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires