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Pruritus assessment tools for 6 to 7‐year‐old children: KidsItchyQoL and ItchyQuant
Author(s) -
Kong Ha Eun,
Francois Sandy,
Smith Shelby,
Spraker Mary,
Lawley Leslie P.,
Lee Grace,
Chen KuangHo,
Roberts James S.,
Chen Suephy C.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pediatric dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.542
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1525-1470
pISSN - 0736-8046
DOI - 10.1111/pde.14563
Subject(s) - medicine , intraclass correlation , cronbach's alpha , construct validity , quality of life (healthcare) , patient reported outcome , reliability (semiconductor) , confirmatory factor analysis , polychoric correlation , physical therapy , clinical psychology , psychometrics , correlation , pediatrics , structural equation modeling , statistics , power (physics) , physics , geometry , nursing , mathematics , quantum mechanics
Background/Objectives Measures of pruritus severity and quality of life (QoL) are necessary for the development of therapeutics for children with chronic pruritus. In children, questionnaires need to be developed for specific age groups given the differences in cognitive levels. In this study, we aimed to develop tools to assess QoL and pruritus severity in children 6 to 7‐years‐old with chronic pruritus. Methods Based on open interviews with children, we developed a cartoon‐annotated QoL instrument, KidsItchyQoL, and validated an existing pruritus severity instrument, ItchyQuant, that measures pruritus impact and severity for the preceding week. Both instruments were administered to 100 children aged 6‐7 years with chronic pruritus. The data were analyzed for reliability, reproducibility, construct validity, and responsiveness. Results We found the 14‐item KidsItchyQoL to be reliable (Cronbach's α = 0.846) and reproducible (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.66) as was the ItchyQuant (ICC = 0.47). With respect to construct validity, examination of eigenvalues of the inter‐item polychoric correlation matrix suggested three dominant factors. A subsequent confirmatory factor analysis suggested that a 3‐dimensional simple structure model with correlated factors provided a reasonable data representation. The responsiveness of KidsItchyQoL and ItchyQuant ( P = .005, GLM procedure) were demonstrated with scores changing as expected with the self‐reported change of itch severity. Conclusions These results demonstrate promise for a new set of reliable research tools to assess QoL and pruritus severity in children 6 to 7 years of age.