Pediatric disability of the upper extremity and quality of life questionnaire: reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change

Ramunė Degliūtė, Sigitas Pranckevičius¹

Unit of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Clinic of Pediatric Surgery, Kaunas University of Medicine Hospital, ¹Kaunas University of Medicine

Key words: quality of life, questionnaire, upper extremity, children.

Summary. Objective. The aim of this study was to develop a specific questionnaire, designed to evaluate health-related quality of life of children and adolescents with congenital or acquired anomalies of the upper extremity.

Material and methods. Children who underwent operative or conservative treatment of the upper extremity at Kaunas University of Medicine Hospital and Kaunas Red Cross Hospital or conservative treatment at Kaunas Sanatorium “Žibutė” and Druskininkai Sanatorium “Saulutė” participated in the study. A total of 99 parents and 56 adolescents with congenital or acquired anomalies of the upper extremity filled out the questionnaires. The data were analyzed by the program SPSS 12.0.1 for Windows.

Results. Two versions of questionnaire were developed: one for parents of children and adolescents aged 5–18 years and another – for adolescents aged 11–18 years. Both versions consist of seven scales: self-care, daily activities, sports activities and hobby, self-image, emotional, social health, and patient’s satisfaction with treatment. The testing of questionnaire reliability was performed by estimating a Cronbach alfa coefficient which varied from 0.80 to 0.97 for different scales of questionnaire designed for parents. The item-scale correlation was from 0.44 to 0.89. There was a statistically significant difference among separate items for all scales (p<0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficient ranged from 0.84 to 0.89 for all scales. Cronbach alfa coefficients of scales of questionnaire designed for children varied from 0.83 to 0.95, and item-scale correlation was moderate to strong. A statistically significant difference among separate items for all scales was obtained (p<0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficient varied from 0.79 to 0.86. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient between questionnaires developed for parents and children was calculated, and strong correlation between corresponding scales was found. Sensitivity to changes was tested, and t-test was performed. A statistically significant difference in all scales was found (p<0.001).

Correspondence to R. Degliūtė, Unit of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Clinic of Pediatric Surgery, Kaunas University of Medicine Hospital, Eivenių 2, 50009 Kaunas, Lithuania. E-mail: rdegliute@hotmail.com

Received 6 June 2006, accepted 17 August 2006