The Quality of Life Scale for Children (QoL-C)
| Pages | 4-17 |
| Published date | 12 March 2014 |
| Date | 12 March 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-05-2013-0019 |
| Author | Hannah L. Thompson,Marie-Claire Reville,Anna Price,Laura Reynolds,Lauren Rodgers,Tamsin Ford |
The Quality of Life Scale for Children
(QoL-C)
Hannah L. Thompson, Marie-Claire Reville, Anna Price, Laura Reynolds, Lauren Rodgers
and Tamsin Ford
Hannah L. Thompson is an
Honorary Assistant
Psychologist, based at
Activities and Therapies
Department, Epsom General
Hospital, Epsom, UK.
Marie-Claire Reville is Masters
Student and Professor Tamsin
Ford is a Professor of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry, both
based at University of Exeter,
Exeter, UK.
Anna Price is an Associate
Research Fellow and Dr Lauren
Rodgers is an Associate
Research Fellow in Medical
Statistics, both based at Child
Health, University of Exeter
Medical School,
Exeter, UK.
Laura Reynolds is a Research
Assistant, based at Dementia
Institute, Bournemouth
University, Bournemouth, UK.
Abstract
Purpose – There is a lack of valid and reliable generic measures of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL)
for children under eight. The purpose of this paper is to assess the psychometric properties of the newly
formulated Quality of Life Scale for Children (QoL-C), which uses a pictorial response format.
Design/methodology/approach – In total, 335 primary school children completed the QoL-C on two
occasions, two weeks apart. Children aged four to seven were interviewed one-to-one while children aged eight
to nine completed the measure as a class activity. Test-re-test reliability, convergent validity and child-parent
concordance were assessed.
Findings – Only one child refused to complete the QoL-C, which suggests the measure is user-friendly.
Test-re-test reliability was moderate for the measure’s total score (intraclass correlation coefficient ¼0.48,
95 percent CI 0.39, 0.57) but low to fair forindividual items (K from 0.13 to 0.37). Internal consistency was
moderate(a¼0.42 time one,0.53 time two). A smallsignificant correlationwas found betweenthe QoL-C and
Child Health Meter in the expected direction (r ¼0.32), suggesting convergent validity. There was low
concordance between the children’s QoL-C responses and parent’s responses (r¼0.19) to a parallel
measure.
Research limitations/implications – The results suggest that further development of this measure is
needed. However, the findings indicate that one-to-one support increases the reliability of very young
children’s responses. The use of pictures, emoticons and minimal text used in the QoL-C should be
investigated further.
Originality/value – Low parent-child concordance underscores the importance of younger children
getting the opportunity to share their views about their HRQoL.
Keywords Children, Health, Quality of Life, Measure, QoL-C
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
A growing interest in the field of Quality of Life (QoL) research has led to an expansion in the use
of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) measures within health services (Varni et al., 2007a).
The consensus is that measures of general HRQoL should be based on several domains that
are necessary for healthy functioning (Wallander et al., 2001); namely physical, mental and
social well-being (World Health Organisation 1948; National Institute for Clinical Excellence
(NICE), 2010). The aim of generic HRQoL measures is to gain an accurate representation
of an individual’s perception of their current health state (Hurst et al., 1997). There are also
disease-specific measures that assess the impact of clinical interventions for particular chronic
illnesses (Brazier and Longworth, 2011). These measures provide data that can be used to
evaluate interventions on clinical trials across different health conditions (Food and Drug
Administration, 2006), inform government and organization policies, and improve patient
healthcare experiences (Varni et al., 2007b; Robinson, 1993). There is a tension between
PAGE 4
j
JOURNAL OF CHILDREN’S SERVICES
j
VOL. 9 NO. 1 2014, pp. 4-17, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-6660 DOI 10.1108/JCS-05-2013-0019
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