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Hvidoere Smiley Faces: International diabetes quality of life assessment tool for young children
Author(s) -
Hoey Hilary,
Lange Karin,
Skinner TC,
Mortensen Henrik,
Swift Peter,
Aanstoot HenkJan,
Castaňo Luis,
Cameron Fergus,
de Beaufort Carine
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
pediatric diabetes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.678
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1399-5448
pISSN - 1399-543X
DOI - 10.1111/pedi.12602
Subject(s) - medicine , smiley , cronbach's alpha , quality of life (healthcare) , construct validity , diabetes mellitus , pediatrics , physical therapy , internal consistency , gerontology , psychometrics , clinical psychology , endocrinology , nursing , computer science , operating system
Background Few diabetes‐specific quality of life (QOL) tools are available for young children. Objectives To design and evaluate, a new age‐specific QOL questionnaire and its associations with treatment regimens and metabolic control. Methods Clinical, demographic data and centrally analyzed HbA1c were collected on 1133 children <11 years (girls 48%; mean ± SD age 8.0 ± 2.1 years; diabetes duration ≥1 year) from 18 centers (Europe, Japan, North America and Australia). Children completed the 10‐item Smiley Faces QOL questionnaire constructed for the study, and children ≥7 years also completed the KIDSCREEN‐10 Index. Results In total, 1035 children completed the new Smiley Faces questionnaire which was well understood by 993 (70% ≥4 years and 96% ≥5 years, respectively). Internal consistency and reliability were good (Cronbach's α = .73). Inter‐item correlation ranged r = 0.047 to 0.451 indicating each item measures separate aspects of children's satisfaction construct. Convergent validity assessed by comparison to the HrQOL KIDSCREEN‐10 Index showed moderate correlation coefficient 0.501. Factor analysis revealed 3 factors explaining 51% of the variance. Children reported good QOL with most items positive, mean values between 1 and 2 on a 5‐point scale (lower scores indicating greater QOL). Diabetes satisfaction was unrelated to age, diabetes duration, HbA1c, or severe hypoglycemia. Girls were more satisfied than boys. Children on intensive regimens reported better QOL ( P < .02). Main dissatisfaction related to insulin injections and blood sugar testing. Conclusions The Smiley Faces questionnaire enables QOL assessment in young children and identification of areas of dissatisfaction and other clinically relevant items relating to diabetes management.