http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24976329

Ng V, Nicholas D, Dhawan A, Yazigi N, Ee L, Stormon M, Gilmour S, Schreiber R, Taylor R, Otley A; PeLTQL study group. Development and validation of the pediatric liver transplantation quality of life: a disease-specific quality of life measure for pediatric liver transplant recipients. J Pediatr. 2014 Sep; 165(3):547-555.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
To develop and validate a Pediatric Liver Transplantation Quality of Life (PeLTQL) questionnaire via an international multicenter collaboration.

STUDY DESIGN:
Item generation with 146 child and/or parent interviews (92 pediatric liver transplantation [LT] recipients) and 3 focus groups generated over 300 items. An item reduction questionnaire with 76 questions was completed by 320 participants (212 pediatric LT recipients).

RESULTS:
Frequency-importance product ranking, questionnaire formatting, and pre-testing resulted in a 26-item PeLTQL questionnaire. Factor analysis identified 3 domains: future health, coping and adjustment, and social-emotional. The validation phase was completed by 133 (46% male) LT recipients (aged 8-18 years). Internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.86) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.85) were excellent. Mean patient PeLTQL score was 69.54 ± 13.06. Construct validity with validated tools identified significant correlations between mean PeLTQL scores and (1) Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory generic (r = 0.64, P < .001); (2) Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory transplant (r = 0.73, P < .001); and (3) Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (r = -0.57, P < .001) scores. Only 17/3458 (0.5%) questions were left blank. A Flesch-Kincaid grade level of 5.4 was calculated as a measure of the PeLTQL readability statistic.

CONCLUSIONS:
The PeLTQL is a valid and reliable novel 26-item disease-specific health related quality of life instrument for LT recipients aged 8-18 years. Low PeLTQL scores can identify patients at risk for childhood anxiety and depression. The tool is now ready for broad use in both clinical practice and clinical interventional trials.

Published on: 
Sep-2014

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