Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on April 22, 2008
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsn038
Evidence-based Assessment of Health-related Quality of Life and Functional Impairment in Pediatric Psychology
1Oregon Health & Science University, 2Case Western Reserve University, 3Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 4University of Miami, and 5Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr Anna Long, Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Anesthesiology, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road UHS-2, Portland, OR 97239, USA. E-mail: longann{at}ohsu.edu
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Objective To provide an evidence-based review of measures of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and functional impairment, with a specific focus on their use in the field of pediatric psychology. Methods As part of a larger survey of pediatric psychologists from the Society of Pediatric Psychology e-mail listserv (American Psychological Association, APA, Division 54), 16 measures were selected for this psychometric review. Measures that qualified for the review fell into one of the following three categories: (a) generic HRQOL scales, (b) disease-specific quality of life scales, and (c) functional impairment rating scales. Results Psychometric characteristics (i.e., three types of reliability, two types of validity) were strong for the majority of measures reviewed, with 12 of the 16 measures meeting "well-established" evidence-based assessment criteria. Strengths and weaknesses of existing measures were noted. Conclusions Recommendations for future work in this area of assessment are presented, including suggestions that further validation and exploration of measure properties such as factor analysis and changes in HRQOL over time be conducted.
Key words: children; chronic illness; psychosocial functioning; quality of life; systematic review.
Received October 17, 2007; revision received March 26, 2008; accepted March 26, 2008