Published online January 2, 2008
PEDIATRICS Vol. 121 Supplement January 2008, pp. S98 (doi:10.1542/peds.2007-2022W)
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COMMUNITY PEDIATRICS


MEASURING QUALITY OF LIFE IN GREEK CHILDREN: FIRST PSYCHOMETRIC RESULTS OF THE GREEK VERSION OF THE PEDIATRIC QUALITY OF LIFE INVENTORY (PEDSQL) 4.0 GENERIC CORE SCALES

Konstantina Gkoltsioua, Vassiliki Papaevangeloub, Yannis Tountasc and Andreas Constantopoulosb

a Second Department of Pediatrics
b School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Mother and Child Care, Second Department of Pediatrics, Panagiotis and Aglaia Kyriakou Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece
c Department of Social Medicine, Center for Health Services Research, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Health-related quality of life concerning children is a growing field of research. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) is a promising instrument that is available in age-appropriate versions and parallel forms for both children and their parents.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Greek translation of the PedsQL 4.0 generic core scales in a sample of healthy children.

METHODS: After a successful pilot test, the Greek PedsQL was used in a cross-sectional study of 645 healthy 8- to 12-year-old schoolchildren and 567 of their caregivers within the framework of the European project (KIDSCREEN). Reliability of the instrument was assessed by Cronbach's {alpha}. Construct validity was assessed by exploring the intercorrelations between the 4 PedsQL subscales and between self- and proxy-report subscales. Impact of gender, health status, and socioeconomic class was detected.

RESULTS: All PedsQL scales showed satisfactory reliability (>.70). Correlations among self-report subscales and between self- and proxy-report subscales were significant. Girls reported lower health-related quality of life than boys on the emotional-functioning subscale. There were significant differences in scores between low and high socioeconomic groups. Healthy children scored significantly higher on all self- and proxy-report scales.

CONCLUSIONS: The PedsQL Greek version for children 8 to 12 years old is a valid and reliable instrument, replicating some of the earlier findings of the original version. The Greek PedsQL 4.0 version will be a valuable tool that can be used effectively in quality-of-life measurement in Greek clinical trials and population-based exercises.

Submitted by Konstantina Gkoltsiou