Responsiveness of the Child Health Questionnaire-Parent Form in adolescents with non-specific chronic pain or fatigue

T. Westendorp*, J.A. Verbunt, S.C. Remerie, R.J.E.M. Smeets

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

BackgroundThe Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) is a widely used instrument for measuring health-related quality of life covering both the physical and psychosocial domain. This study examined the responsiveness of the Dutch CHQ 50-item Parent Form (PF50) in a sample of adolescents with chronic non-specific pain and/or fatigue.

MethodFive different methods were used to calculate the responsiveness for the physical (PhS) and psychosocial (PsS) subscale of the CHQ-50: standardized response mean (SRM), pooled effect sizes (ESs), standard error of measurement of agreement (SEMagreement), minimal detectable change (MDC) and the area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve. For data analysis, the population was divided into two groups based on the parent's global perceived effect of treatment: a changed group (A) and an unchanged group (B).

ResultsThe responsiveness analyses were performed including 92 adolescents (88.0% girls; mean age 16.4 years). The SRMs are 2.89 and 1.01 for the PhS and PsS, respectively. Large ESs are found for group A (PhS=3.30; PsS=1.16). The method used for calculating SEMagreement results in a score of PhS=18.92 and PsS=11.39. The MDCs of PhS and PsS are 52.45 and 31.57, respectively. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for PhS=0.79 and for PsS=0.64, and the corresponding optimal cut-off points are 21.1 and 7.0.

ConclusionUsing the methods SRM, ES and AUC, the responsiveness of the CHQ-PF50 in adolescents with non-specific chronic pain or fatigue treated in a rehabilitation clinic is adequate for the physical scale and moderate for the psychosocial scale.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)540-547
Number of pages8
JournalEuropean Journal of Pain
Volume18
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2014

Keywords

  • QUALITY-OF-LIFE
  • VALIDITY
  • RELIABILITY
  • VERSION
  • GUIDELINES
  • CRITERIA
  • ASTHMA
  • CHAQ
  • CHQ

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