Measuring preference-based quality of life in children aged 6-7 years: a comparison of the performance of the CHU-9D and EQ-5D-Y--the WAVES pilot study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the performance of the child health utility 9D (CHU-9D) and EuroQol 5D-youth (EQ-5D-Y) in children aged 6–7 years.


METHODS
The CHU-9D and EQ-5D-Y were interviewer-administered to 160 children aged 6–7 years at six schools across the West Midlands. Missing values, time taken to complete instruments and interviewer ratings were recorded to assess feasibility/acceptability. Construct validity was assessed by testing convergent validity hypotheses. Reliability was examined via a test–retest of a sub-sample. Psychometric properties were further examined by exploring distributions of utility scores, qualitative notes and design of the questionnaires.


RESULTS
No missing responses were recorded with over 80% of children’s understanding being rated as good/excellent for both questionnaires. The average completion time for both instruments was less than 3 minutes, demonstrating excellent feasibility/acceptability. Evidence of construct validity was recorded with 12 of the 13 convergent hypotheses being supported. Test–retest reliability was relatively poor for both instruments with weighted kappa coefficients ranging from fair to moderate.


CONCLUSIONS
Children aged 6–7 years can feasibly complete utility instruments when interviewer-administered. The reliability of the instruments is of concern and requires further study. With respect to content validity and other psychometric properties, the CHU-9D is favoured to the EQ-5D-Y. Until the EuroQol group produces tariff values for the EQ-5D-Y, we recommend that the EQ-5D-Y is not used for utility elicitation in this age group.
Health Economics Unit, Public Health Building, Universityof Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. axc105@bham.ac.uk
Alastair G
AG
Canaway
Emma J
EJ
Frew
D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom