A new measure of health-related quality of life for children: Preliminary findings

Abstract

Preliminary findings arising from the development of a new instrument for the assessment of quality of life in nine to fifteen year old children are presented. The questionnaire can be completed in 10–15 minutes by children themselves and by parents. It covers the main 15 domains of children's lives, for each of which a rating of function, upset and satisfaction are obtained. Data are presented for three groups of children (normal comparison N = 25, psychiatric disorder N = 25, and chronic physical disorder N = 26), and for three groups of parents of children with psychiatric disorder (N = 25, chronic physical disorder N = 24, and mental retardation N = 26). Evidence is presented to demonstrate the instrument has reasonable reliability and validity, and discriminates between types of disorder and between disorder and normality.