Validation of the Japanese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Cancer Module

Abstract

BackgroundThe PedsQL 3.0 Cancer Module is a widely used instrument to measure pediatric cancer specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for children aged 2 to 18 years. We developed the Japanese version of the PedsQL Cancer Module and investigated its reliability and validity among Japanese children and their parents.MethodsParticipants were 212 children with cancer and 253 of their parents. Reliability was determined by internal consistency using Cronbach's coefficient alpha and test-retest reliability using intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Validity was assessed through factor validity, convergent and discriminant validity, concurrent validity, and clinical validity. Factor validity was examined by exploratory factor analysis. Convergent and discriminant validity were examined by multitrait scaling analysis. Concurrent validity was assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficients between the Cancer Module and Generic Core Scales, and the comparison of the scores of child self-reports with those of other self-rating depression scales for children. Clinical validity was assessed by comparing the on- and off- treatment scores using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests.ResultsCronbach's coefficient alpha was over 0.70 for the total scale and over 0.60 for each subscale by age except for the 'pain and hurt' subscale for children aged 5 to 7 years. For test-retest reliability, the ICC exceeded 0.70 for the total scale for each age. Exploratory factor analysis demonstrated sufficient factorial validity. Multitrait scaling analysis showed high success rates. Strong correlations were found between the reports by children and their parents, and the scores of the Cancer Module and the Generic Core Scales except for 'treatment anxiety' subscales for child reports. The Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children (DSRS-C) scores were significantly correlated with emotional domains and the total score of the cancer module. Children who had been off treatment over 12 months demonstrated significantly higher scores than those on treatment.ConclusionsThe results demonstrate the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the PedsQL Cancer Module among Japanese children.

Quality of life among children with cancer: agreement between child and parent reports

“…In a study carried out in Libano 4 with 85 children aged between 7 and 18 years, a mean HRQoL of 80% (64%-91%) was found. A study with 212 Japanese families of children aged between 5 and 18 years found self-report scores of 78% (67%-93%) and proxy-report scores of 75% (62% and 85%) 5 . In China…”

Quality of life of children and adolescents with cancer: revision of studies literature that used the Pediatric Quality of Life InventoryTM

“…23 Nevertheless, the QoL had statistically meaningful differences in the variants, age of the child diagnosis, 9,11 guardian age 9 , child and adolescent without treatment. ≤12 months and >12 months, [4][5][6]21, cancer diagnosis and epilepsy, 3 for nutrition condition, 18 death in less than six months and over six months after interview.…”

“…The small size of sample may limit the power of statistic analysis 2,16,18,19,22 might justify not find significant differences between different application times, 19 age, race, 15 sex, 5,8,9,15,16,24 and in with or without treatment 11 , and in home cares and standard treatment in reports of children. 23 Nevertheless, the QoL had statistically meaningful differences in the variants, age of the child diagnosis, 9,11 guardian age 9 , child and adolescent without treatment.…”

“…It´s a matter of an instrument already validated and adapted across cultures, and it also verifies the psichometric proprieties in several languages. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] It is a multidimensional instrument comprised by 27 items distributed in eight dimensions: pain and hurt (2 items), nausea (5 items), treatment anxiety (3 items) procedure anxiety (3 items), worry (3 items), cognitive problem (5 items), perception physical appearance (3 items), and communication (3 items). It presents two versions, one for the child or the adolescente reports divided by age group 5-7, 8-12, and 13-18 years old and an other for the parent reports from 2-4, 5-7, 8-12, and 13-18 years old.…”

Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the KIDSCREEN-52 health-related quality of life questionnaire for children/adolescents and parents/proxies

“…In contrast, generic measures are suitable for QOL assessment, regardless of the child's specific condition, and can be used to compare patient groups with different diagnoses or a general population in order to determine the impact of a health condition or disease on HRQOL [2]. In Japan, several diseasespecific self-reported measures are available for diseases such as asthma [32], cancer [33], brain tumor [34] and behavioral problems [35]. In addition, some generic measures are available for young adults (e.g., SF-36 [36] ), but to date, very few well-validated measures are focused on children.…”