Psychometric properties of the DISABKIDS Chronic Generic Module (DCGM-37) when used in children undergoing treatment for cancer

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim was to evaluate data quality and psychometric properties of an instrument for measurement of health-related quality of life: DISABKIDS Chronic Generic Module (DCGM-37) used in school-aged children with cancer.MethodsAll school-children diagnosed with cancer in Sweden during a two-and-a-half year period were invited to participate in the study. Analysis was performed on combined data from two assessments, two and-a-half and five months after start of cancer treatment (n = 170). The instrument was examined with respect to feasibility, data quality, reliability and construct and criterion-based validity.ResultsMissing items per dimension ranged from 0 to 5.3 percent, with a majority below three percent. Cronbach's alpha values exceeded 0.70 for all dimensions. There was support for the suggested groupings of items into dimensions for all but six of the 36 items of the DCGM-37 included in this study. The instrument discriminated satisfactorily between diagnoses reflecting treatment burden.ConclusionsThe results indicate satisfactory data quality and reliability of the DCGM-37 when used in children undergoing treatment for cancer. Evaluation of construct validity showed generally acceptable results, although not entirely supporting the suggested dimensionality. Continued psychometric evaluation in a larger sample of children during and after treatment for cancer is recommended.

Examining a developmental approach to health-related quality of life assessment: Psychometric analysis of DISABKIDS generic module in a Portuguese sample

“…Despite the fact the instrument discriminated between gender (proxy version) and age (self version) groups, effect sizes were larger for discrimination between conditions. These findings have been observed in previous studies (Sandeberg, Johansson, Hagell, & Wettergren, 2010), and emphasize the adequacy of DISABKIDS-37 to discriminate between diagnoses (the original main purpose of the instrument), without rejecting its sensitivity to age specificities. Levels of agreement between parent/caregiver and child/adolescent reports were only moderate in our study, besides the fact that evidence on the discriminant validity of the questionnaires was differently observed in each report form.…”

“…The fact that every facet's internal consistency was always higher than its correlation to the other facets suggests that facet scores depict distinct aspects of paediatric HRQL; however, the suggested factorial structure is to be tested in further studies since the ones 16 conducted so far reported inconsistent findings (Sandeberg, Johansson, Hagell, & Wettergren, 2010;Schmidt et al, 2006). Regarding convergent validity, the fact that moderate to strong associations were observed between generic QL and HRQL instruments underlines the pertinence of assuming those two concepts as complementary in their applications, but somehow distinct in nature (Wallander, Schmitt, & Koot, 2001).…”

“…Following the suggestions of Nunnally & Bernstein (1994), alpha values ≥.70 were considered acceptable, and ≥.80 optimal; correlation coefficients between 0.1 and 0.3, 0.31 and 0.5, and those superior to 0.5, were classified as indicators of weak, moderate and strong associations, respectively. In addition, if the alpha value of a facet was higher than its correlation to the other facets, it was assumed that facet scores represented distinct aspects of HRQL (Sandeberg et al, 2010). This analysis was performed as a preliminary assessment of construct validity, because when the correlation between two subscales is less than their reliability coefficients, there is some evidence of a distinctive reliable variance measured by each subscale (Ware & Gandek, 1998).…”

“…(Sandeberg, Johansson, Hagell, & Wettergren, 2010;. In order to assess symptom severity and thus improve sample characterization, three questions from the asthma and epilepsy DISABKIDS specific modules ("When was the last time your child had an asthma attack/a seizure?…”

Measurement Properties of the Arabic Lebanon Version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 Generic Core Scales for Young Child (5 - 7 years), and Child Aged 8 - 12 Years: Quality of Life of in Urban and Rural Children in Lebanon

“…As has been reported in several studies (Dean et al, 2010;Abdel Hai, Taher, & Fattah, 2010;Farnik et al, 2010), it is well established that children with chronic conditions have significant impairments in HRQoL. As expected, self-reported scores for overall HRQOL of cancer children were more impaired than those of healthy children (Eiser, Eiser, & Stride, 2005;Sung et al, 2009;Sandeberg, Johansson, Hagell, & Wettergren, 2010;Varni, Limbers, & Burwinkle, 2007). School functioning was most impacted by chronic health conditions, as reflected by the higher rates of school absences (Dean et al, 2010), and quit of school.…”