The PedsQL™ Infant Scales: Feasibility, internal consistency reliability, and validity in healthy and ill infants

Objective: The PedsQL™ (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™) is a modular instrument designed to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and disease-specific symptoms in children and adolescents ages 2-18. The new PedsQL™ Infant Scales were designed as a generic HRQOL instrument specifically for healthy and ill infants ages 1-24 months. The objective of this study was to report on the initial feasibility, internal consistency reliability, and validity of the PedsQL™ Infant Scales in healthy, acutely ill, and chronically ill infants. Methods: The 36-item (ages 1-12 months) and 45-item (ages 13-24 months) PedsQL™ Infant Scales (Physical Functioning, Physical Symptoms, Emotional Functioning, Social Functioning, Cognitive Functioning) were completed by 683 parents of healthy, acutely ill, and chronically ill infants. Results: The PedsQL™ Infant Scales evidenced minimal missing responses, achieved excellent internal consistency reliability for the Total Scale Scores (α = 0.92), distinguished between healthy infants and acutely and chronically ill infants, and demonstrated a confirmatory factor structure largely consistent with the a priori conceptual model. Conclusions: The results demonstrate the initial measurement properties of the PedsQL™ Infant Scales in healthy and ill infants. The findings suggest that the PedsQL™ Infant Scales may be utilized in the evaluation of generic HRQOL in infants ages 1-24 months.