title: PROMIS® Parent Proxy Report Scales for children ages 5-7 years: an item response theory analysis of differential item functioning across age groups.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the present study is to describe the extension of the National Institutes of Health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS(®)) pediatric parent proxy-report item banks for parents of children ages 5-7 years, and to investigate differential item functioning (DIF) between the data obtained from parents of 5-7-year-old children with the data obtained from parents of 8-17 year-old children in the original construction of the scales.
  
  
  METHODS
  Item response theory (IRT) analyses of DIF were conducted comparing data from the 5-7 age group with data from the established scales for ages 8-17 across 5 generic health domains (physical functioning, pain, fatigue, emotional health, and social health) and asthma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  IRT DIF analyses revealed that the majority of the items functioned similarly with responses from parents of younger and older children. A small number of items were removed from the item bank for younger children, and a few items that exhibited statistical DIF were retained in the pools with the caveat that they should not be used in studies that involve comparisons of younger children with older children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study confirms that most of the items in the PROMIS parent proxy-report item banks can be used with parents of children ages 5-7. It is anticipated that these new scales will have application for younger pediatric populations when pediatric self-report is not feasible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA, jvarni@arch.tamu.edu.
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Varni
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thissen
authors.forename: Brian D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Stucky
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Brooke
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Magnus
authors.forename: Hally
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: Debra E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Irwin
authors.forename: Esi Morgan
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: DeWitt
authors.forename: Jin-Shei
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Amtmann
authors.forename: Heather E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: Darren A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: DeWalt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D001249:Asthma / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.); D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019727:Proxy; D011594:Psychometrics; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D014481:United States