title: Development of Parents' of Children with Hymenoptera Venom Allergy Quality of Life Scale (PoCHVAQoLS).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Venom allergy in children, as a potentially life-threatening disease, may have a considerable impact on the quality of life of the parents of the affected patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To present development of the quality of life scale for such parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study sample included 70 parents of children with a history of insect sting reaction, referred for consultations to the allergy centre of the University Children's Hospital of Krakow, Krakow, Poland, in 2000-2010. An initial pool of 56 items divided into 6 domains was prepared. The items with intercorrelations higher than 0.7 were removed from each domain and principal component analysis was conducted for each domain separately to provide a one-dimensional subscale for each domain. Reliability of the subscales was assessed using the Cronbach α coefficient in terms of the Classical Test Theory and with the rho coefficient in terms of the Item Response Theory. The multidimensionality of the scale was tested using multitrait scaling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two to four items from each domain were selected to constitute five subscales. Both the rho and α coefficients for all the subscales were 0.75 or higher. The multitrait method showed that almost all the items indicated stronger correlations with their own subscale than with other subscales. Correlations between subscales were lower than 0.5.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presented scale consists of high validity and reliability subscales measuring the quality of life of parents of Hymenoptera venom allergic children. As their quality of life is strongly related to the health of their children, such information may be helpful in everyday clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sociology, Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland. Head of the Chair: Prof. Beata Tobiasz-Adamczyk PhD.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brzyski
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Polish-American Institute of Paediatrics, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland. Head of the Department: Prof. Przemko Kwinta MD, PhD.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cichocka-Jarosz
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Polish-American Institute of Paediatrics, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland. Head of the Department: Prof. Przemko Kwinta MD, PhD.
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lis
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sociology, Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland. Head of the Chair: Prof. Beata Tobiasz-Adamczyk PhD.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tobiasz-Adamczyk
keywords: Hymenoptera venom allergy; development; parents; quality of life; scale