Authors (including presenting author) :
Chan SWW, Pak CH, Chan MY, Tung WL, Hui WW, Lam J, Ho YB, Chan NC
Affiliation :
Chan SWW, Pak CH, Chan MY, Tung WL, Hui WW, Lam J, Ho YB, Chan NC
Allied Health Department (Physiotherapy), Hong Kong Children’s Hospital
Introduction :
Clinical information on health-related functioning is crucial for clinicians. However, there is a paucity of local instruments for rapidly measuring the present functioning of Chinese children, particularly in a crowded clinical context. The PedsQL™ Present Functioning Visual Analogue Scales (PedsQL™ VAS) were developed to quickly measure present functioning in children. Based on the well-established VAS format, the PedsQL™ VAS assesses child self-report or parent-proxy report of six domains including anxiety, sadness, anger, worry, fatigue, and pain. This study sought to adapt a well-known instrument with good psychometric properties for local use.
Objectives :
To translate and culturally adapt the PedsQL™ VAS for Chinese children in Hong Kong, as well as to assess its usability.
Methodology :
The child self-report and parent-proxy report of the PedsQL™ VAS were translated using the PedsQL™ translation methodology, which included forward and backward translation as well as cognitive debriefing interviews. The semantic and content equivalence scores were evaluated by three panel members. The translated tool was tested on 10 healthy children (8 to 18 years old) and their parents (10 adults: 35-62 years old). All participants were asked a self-rated single ease question for the overall understanding of each item in PedsQL™ VAS (1-7; 1=very difficult, 7=very easy).
Result & Outcome :
The semantic equivalence and content validity scores of the Chinese PedsQL™ VAS ranged from 97% to 100%, indicating that the meanings of the translated items were considered equivalent and relevant to the original. The time required to complete the child self-report ranged from 29 seconds to 3 minutes (average time=1.5 minutes) and 21 seconds to 2 minutes (average time=59 seconds) for parent-proxy report. The findings of the cognitive debriefing interviews revealed that all participants had a thorough understanding of each item. There were no missing items for neither the children nor their parents. The interview findings did not necessitate any changes to the items of the Chinese PedsQL™ VAS. The overall ease of understanding of each item in PedsQL™ VAS was rated as average 6.5/ 7 by children and 6.7/7 by their parents.
Conclusion
The Chinese PedsQL™ VAS is semantically and conceptually equivalent to the original. All participants demonstrated high comprehension of items and were able to complete them quickly, making them particularly suitable for use as a fast-screening and evaluation tool of health-related functioning in a busy clinical environment, and can potentially improve patient-centered care.
