The PedsQL™ Infant Scales: feasibility, internal consistency reliability, and validity in healthy and ill infants.
OBJECTIVE
The PedsQL™ (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™) is a modular instrument designed to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and disease-specific symptoms in children and adolescents ages 2-18. The new PedsQL™ Infant Scales were designed as a generic HRQOL instrument specifically for healthy and ill infants ages 1-24 months. The objective of this study was to report on the initial feasibility, internal consistency reliability, and validity of the PedsQL™ Infant Scales in healthy, acutely ill, and chronically ill infants.


METHODS
The 36-item (ages 1-12 months) and 45-item (ages 13-24 months) PedsQL™ Infant Scales (Physical Functioning, Physical Symptoms, Emotional Functioning, Social Functioning, Cognitive Functioning) were completed by 683 parents of healthy, acutely ill, and chronically ill infants.


RESULTS
The PedsQL™ Infant Scales evidenced minimal missing responses, achieved excellent internal consistency reliability for the Total Scale Scores (α = 0.92), distinguished between healthy infants and acutely and chronically ill infants, and demonstrated a confirmatory factor structure largely consistent with the a priori conceptual model.


CONCLUSIONS
The results demonstrate the initial measurement properties of the PedsQL™ Infant Scales in healthy and ill infants. The findings suggest that the PedsQL™ Infant Scales may be utilized in the evaluation of generic HRQOL in infants ages 1-24 months.
Varni
James W
JW
Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, 3137 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3137, USA. jvarni@archmail.tamu.edu
Limbers
Christine A
CA
Neighbors
Katie
K
Schulz
Kris
K
Lieu
Judith E C
JE
Heffer
Robert W
RW
Tuzinkiewicz
Krista
K
Mangione-Smith
Rita
R
Zimmerman
Jerry J
JJ
Alonso
Estella M
EM
D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007229:Infant Welfare; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires