English conference proceeding
Verrips,
G.H., Fekkes, M., Theunissen, N.C.M., Brugman, E., Veen, S., Koopman, H.M.,
Wit, J.M., & Verloove-Vanhorick, S.P. (1997). The TAIQOL: a
generic health-related quality of life measure for 1 -4 year olds.
4th Annual Conference of the International Society for
Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL), Vienna, Austria, 4-9 November, Quality
of Life Research, 6(7/8), 736.
Abstract
The purpose was to evaluate the psychometric
performance and criterion validity of the TAIQOL. The questionnaire was
needed in evaluating health-related quality of life (QoL) outcome in clinical
research on children with a very low birth weight (VLBW). Health-related
QoL was defined as health status plus affective responses to problems
in health status. Health status was defined multidimensionally to encompass
13 dimensions. The TAIQOL is completed by a parent in approximately 10
min. Parents of 106 VLBW children, aged 1 – 4 years, completed the
TAIQOL as well as parents of 363 children in the open population. The
psychometric performance was evaluated by Cronbach's a and by the percentage
of items with a higher itemrest Pearson correlation coefficient (r) than
item-other scale rs. The multidimensionality of health-related QoL was
evaluated by factor analysis and by rs between the TAIQOL scales. The
criterion validity was evaluated by analyses of variance. The Cronbach's
as were 0.52 – 0.89. Ninety-six percent of item-rest rs were higher
than item-other scale rs. Ninety-four percent of items loaded higher on
their proper factor than other factors. The rs between TAIQOL scales were
0.04 – 0.50. The percentage status of problems per scale that led
to negative affective responses ranged from 21 to 86%. As expected, VLBW
children, children with a chronic disease and children under medical treatment
had worse health-related QoL than other children. The psychometric performance
of the TAIQOL was good. The findings support the multidimensional definition
of healthrelated QoL. The fact that on average only 39% of health-related
problems led to negative emotional consequences indicates the essential
importance of assessing subjective emotional appraisal of health status.
The criterion validity of the TAIQOL was good. In conclusion, the TAIQOL
is a suitable instrument in assessing health-related QoL in groups of
very young children.
Keywords
Health Related Quality of Life, Research,
Measure, Children, Health Status, Parents, Factor Analysis, Chronic Disease,
Treatment Consequences, Instrument