Health-related Quality of Life of Thai children with HIV infection: a comparison of the Thai Quality of Life in Children (ThQLC) with the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ version 4.0 (PedsQL™ 4.0) Generic Core Scales

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Thai Quality of Life in Children (ThQLC) and compare it with the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™ 4.0) in a sample of children receiving long-term HIV care in Thailand.MethodsThe ThQLC and the PedsQL™ 4.0 were administered to 292 children with HIV infection aged 8–16 years. Clinical parameters such as the current viral load, CD4 percent, and clinical staging were obtained by medical record review.ResultsThree out of five ThQLC scales and three out of four PedsQL™ 4.0 scales had acceptable internal consistency reliability (i.e., Cronbach’s alpha >0.70). Cronbach’s alpha values of each scale ranged from 0.52 to 0.75 and 0.57 to 0.75 for the ThQLC and the PedsQL™ 4.0, respectively. Corresponding scales (physical functioning, emotional well-being, social functioning, and school functioning) of the ThQLC and the PedsQL™ 4.0 correlated substantially with one another (r = 0.47, 0.67, 0.59 and 0.56, respectively). Both ThQLC and PedsQL™ 4.0 overall scores significantly correlated with the child’s self-rated severity of the illness (r = −0.23 for the ThQLC and −0.28 for the PedsQL™ 4.0) and the caregiver’s rated overall quality of life (r = 0.07 for the ThQLC and 0.13 for the PedsQL™ 4.0). The overall score of the ThQLC correlated with clinical and immunologic categories of the United State-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US-CDC) classification system (r = −0.12), while the overall score of the PedsQL™ 4.0 significantly correlated with the number of disability days (r = −0.12) and CD4 percent (r = −0.15). However, the overall score from both instruments were not significantly different by clinical stages of HIV disease. A multitrait-multimethod analysis results demonstrated that the average convergent validity and off-diagonal correlations were 0.58 and 0.45, respectively. Discriminant validity was partially supported with 62% of validity diagonal correlations exceeding correlations between different domains (discriminant validity successes). The Hays-Hayashi MTMM quality index was 0.61. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the ThQLC physical functioning scale provided unique information in predicting child self-rated severity of the illness and overall quality of life beyond that explained by the PedsQL™ 4.0 in Thai children with HIV infection.ConclusionsWe found evidence in support of the reliability and validity of the ThQLC and the PedsQL™ 4.0 for measuring the health-related quality of life of Thai children with HIV infection.

Health-Related Quality of Life in Children with HIV Infection—A Cross-Sectional Study from South India

“…The reliability and validity of the PedsQL 4.0 generic core scales has been documented in the literature for pediatric patients with chronic health conditions such as hematologic malignancies, diabetes, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis, as well as healthy children. [13][14][15]17,18 The Measurement Model represents a significant advancement in pediatric HRQoL measurement, combining the reliability, validity, responsiveness, and practicality not typically found all in one pediatric HRQoL instrument. The various scale scores and summary scores were calculated as per the PedsQL 4.0 questionnaire guidelines.…”

Cross‐cultural Validation of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 (PedsQL™) generic core scale into Arabic Language

“…Quality of life research began to make an impact in health in the early 1970s (1), since when its growth has been exponential. The past 5 years have seen the internationalization of quality of life research, with generic and condition-specific measures being translated into a range of languages of Western (4)(5)(6)(7) and non-Western cultures (1,8,9).…”

Effect of HIV diagnosis disclosure on psychosocial outcomes in Thai children with perinatal HIV infection

“…Health-related quality of life measures have been increasingly used to assess children and caregiver perspectives of health and functioning in many chronic health conditions including HIV infection. 16 However, there have been few studies examining the effect of disclosure on quality of life of HIV-infected children. A prospective cohort study by Butler et al 20 quality of life scores were found not to be affected by disclosure.…”

“…It has been widely used in a variety of chronic diseases including HIV-infected children and adolescents. 16 In this study, the child self-report versions for ages 5–7, 8–12, and 13–18 years were used and data were collected at baseline, and at two-month and six-month post-disclosure follow-up.…”