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Psychometric validation of the French version of the PedsQLTM4.0 generic health-related quality of life questionnaire for 2–4-year-old children

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Abstract

The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory version 4.0 (PedsQLTM4.0) is an internationally recognized, generic, health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaire, but its proxy 2–4-year-old version has not been validated in France. This study proposes a psychometric validation of this tool for French children aged 2 to 4 years and 11 months. A total of 220 parents of typically developing children participated. Acceptability was explored. Internal consistency was tested using Cronbach’s alpha. Factor structure was tested using an exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). Risk of bias was assessed regarding gender and age effect on HRQoL using Student’s t test. Except for school functioning, compliance was good (< 2.9%). No floor effects were observed, but ceiling effects were found for all scores. The total score had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .82). The Cronbach’s α of each subscale was between .53 and .71. Factor analysis rejected the original 4-factor structure and revealed an alternative 2-factor structure. The total score and emotional scale score did not appear to be sensitive to gender or child age.

  Conclusions: The PedsQLTM4.0 generic HRQoL questionnaire presents good psychometric properties, regarding acceptability and reliability. For use among French children aged 2 to 4 years and 11 months, we recommend retaining the total score and the emotional scale score.

What is Known:

• Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important measure in pediatric health assessment. There exist few tools that measure HRQoL among French preschool children.

• The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory version 4.0 (PedsQLTM4.0) is a generic scale designed to assess HRQoL among children, adolescents, and young adults aged 2 to 25 years and widely disseminated internationally.

What is New:

• The present study proposes a validation of the 2–4-year-old proxy PedsQLTM4.0 generic questionnaire in a sample of French children.

• The tool has good psychometric properties implying that it could be used and diffused, under certain conditions, in a clinical and research context.

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Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article. The datasets used for those published data are available from the corresponding author on request.

Abbreviations

CFI:

Comparative fit index

ESEM:

Exploratory structural equation modeling

HRQoL:

Health‐related quality of life

INSEE:

Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques

PedsQLTM4.0:

Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory version 4.0

RMSEA:

Root mean square error of approximation

TLI:

Tucker–Lexis index

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the study participants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Processus de Santé, Université Paris Cité, Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, F-92100, France

    Jérôme Lichtlé, Emmanuel Devouche, Naomi Downes & Emilie Cappe

  2. Département de Psychiatrie et d’addictologie, Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies & Centre de Recherche du CIUSSS-NIM, Université de Montréal, 7070, Boulevard Perras, QC, H1E1A4, Montreal, Canada

    Laurent Mottron

  3. Institut universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France

    Emilie Cappe

Authors
  1. Jérôme Lichtlé
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  2. Emmanuel Devouche
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  3. Naomi Downes
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  4. Laurent Mottron
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  5. Emilie Cappe
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Contributions

JL was the principal investigator of the study, developed the research protocol, recruited participants, collected data, participated in data analysis, wrote the first draft, and proofread the manuscript. ED analyzed the data and proofread the manuscript. ND translated and proofread the manuscript; she is a bilingual native English speaker. LM proofread the manuscript; he is the co-supervisor of JL’s doctoral thesis. EC participated in developing the research protocol and data analysis and proofread the manuscript; she is the supervisor of JL’s doctoral thesis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emilie Cappe.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval and consent to participate

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Comité d’Ethique pour les Recherches Comportementales et En Santé (CERCES) of the Université Paris Descartes (2018/n°2018–27). All participants signed an informed consent prior to participating in the study.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Communicated by Peter de Winter.

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Lichtlé, J., Devouche, E., Downes, N. et al. Psychometric validation of the French version of the PedsQLTM4.0 generic health-related quality of life questionnaire for 2–4-year-old children. Eur J Pediatr 182, 1213–1219 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-022-04796-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-022-04796-y

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