title: External validity of the pediatric cardiac quality of life inventory.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Pediatric Cardiac Quality of Life Inventory (PCQLI) is a disease-specific, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measure for pediatric heart disease (HD). The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the external validity of PCQLI scores.
  
  
  METHODS
  The PCQLI development site (Development sample) and six geographically diverse centers in the United States (Composite sample) recruited pediatric patients with acquired or congenital HD. Item response option variability, scores [Total (TS); Disease Impact (DI) and Psychosocial Impact (PI) subscales], patterns of correlation, and internal consistency were compared between samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 3,128 patients and parent participants (1,113 Development; 2,015 Composite) were analyzed. Response option variability patterns of all items in both samples were acceptable. Inter-sample score comparisons revealed no differences. Median item-total (Development, 0.57; Composite, 0.59) and item-subscale (Development, DI 0.58, PI 0.59; Composite, DI 0.58, PI 0.56) correlations were moderate. Subscale-subscale (0.79 for both samples) and subscale-total (Development, DI 0.95, PI 0.95; Composite, DI 0.95, PI 0.94) correlations and internal consistency (Development, TS 0.93, DI 0.90, PI 0.84; Composite, TS 0.93, DI 0.89, PI 0.85) were high in both samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PCQLI scores are externally valid across the US pediatric HD population and may be used for multi-center HRQOL studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 3333 Burnet Avenue, MLC 2003, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA. bradley.marino@cchmc.org
authors.forename: Bradley S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Marino
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Drotar
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cassedy
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Ryan S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Tomlinson
authors.forename: Katelyn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mellion
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mussatto
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mahony
authors.forename: Jane W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Newburger
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Mitchell I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Helfaer
authors.forename: Anne E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Kazak
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wray
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wernovsky
authors.forename: Judy A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Shea
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ittenbach
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States