The PedsQL™ in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes

TLDR

The PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales are child self‑report and parent proxy‑report measures developed as a generic core to be combined with disease‑specific modules. The study aimed to evaluate the PedsQL, a modular instrument for measuring health‑related quality of life in children and adolescents, and its Type 1 Diabetes Module for diabetes‑specific HRQOL. The authors administered the PedsQL Generic Core Scales and Diabetes Module to 300 pediatric diabetes patients and 308 parents. The PedsQL showed acceptable internal consistency (α≈0.88 child, 0.89 parent), distinguished healthy from diabetic children, exhibited intercorrelations between generic and diabetes‑specific HRQOL, and proved reliable and valid for use as an outcome measure in diabetes trials.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE—The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) is a modular instrument designed to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children and adolescents aged 2–18 years. The PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales are child self-report and parent proxy-report scales developed as the generic core measure to be integrated with the PedsQL disease-specific modules. The PedsQL 3.0 Type 1 Diabetes Module was designed to measure diabetes-specific HRQOL. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—The PedsQL Generic Core Scales and Diabetes Module were administered to 300 pediatric patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes and 308 parents. RESULTS—Internal consistency reliability for the PedsQL Generic Core Total Scale score (α = 0.88 child, 0.89 parent-report) and most Diabetes Module scales (average α = 0.71 child, 0.77 parent-report) was acceptable for group comparisons. The PedsQL 4.0 distinguished between healthy children and children with diabetes. The Diabetes Module demonstrated intercorrelations with dimensions of generic and diabetes-specific HRQOL. CONCLUSIONS—The results demonstrate the reliability and validity of the PedsQL in diabetes. The PedsQL may be used as an outcome measure for diabetes clinical trials and research.