Development of a questionnaire for the assessment of quality of life in korean children with allergic rhinitis.
OBJECTIVE
Korean children have their own unique lifestyle based on their living environment and culture. This study aimed to develop a questionnaire to evaluate the quality of life in Korean children with allergic rhinitis.


METHODS
After a preliminary survey, an initial questionnaire was developed. Questions were modified to be easily understood by young children aged 6 to 7 years. The modified questionnaire was tested on children aged 6 to 12 years old. Item scores, defined as the proportion of children whose answer score was 1 point or higher was multiplied by the average answer score of each question, were used to identify questions that have practical application to the quality of life in Korean children with allergic rhinitis. Differences in answer scores between children with allergic rhinitis and those who were healthy were assessed by a Wilcoxon rank-sum test. The relationship between nasal index scores and quality of life scores was determined by a Spearman rank order test.


RESULTS
An initial questionnaire was composed of 21 items. We identified 19 questions with item scores above 0.5 in children with allergic rhinitis, many of which were related to nasal symptoms and 10 questions that were different between the allergic rhinitis group and the control group. The final questionnaire included the 10 questions that had both high item scores and a significant difference in the answer scores between the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The developed questionnaire is essential and practical for assessing discomfort related to the symptoms felt by Korean children with allergic rhinitis.
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Korea. ; Environmental Health Center for Allergic Rhinitis, Inha University Hospital, Ministry of Environment, Incheon, Korea.
Jeong Hee
JH
Kim
Department of Nursing, Inha University, Incheon, Korea.
Young Mee
YM
Ahn
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Korea. ; Environmental Health Center for Allergic Rhinitis, Inha University Hospital, Ministry of Environment, Incheon, Korea.
Hyung Jin
HJ
Kim
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Korea. ; Environmental Health Center for Allergic Rhinitis, Inha University Hospital, Ministry of Environment, Incheon, Korea.
Dae Hyun
DH
Lim
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Korea. ; Environmental Health Center for Allergic Rhinitis, Inha University Hospital, Ministry of Environment, Incheon, Korea.
Byong Kwan
BK
Son
Environmental Health Center for Allergic Rhinitis, Inha University Hospital, Ministry of Environment, Incheon, Korea.
Hee Suk
HS
Kang
Environmental Health Center for Allergic Rhinitis, Inha University Hospital, Ministry of Environment, Incheon, Korea.
Young Eun
YE
Song
Environmental Health Center for Allergic Rhinitis, Inha University Hospital, Ministry of Environment, Incheon, Korea.
Hee Young
HY
Lee
Allergic rhinitis; children; quality of Life; questionnaire