Psychometrics of child health questionnaire parent short form (CHQ-28) used to measure quality of life in HIV-infected children on complex anti-retroviral therapy

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to expand the psychometric properties of the Child Health Questionnaire parent report short form (CHQ-28) as a measure of well-being for children with chronic illness. The purposive sample included 33 HIV-infected children ages 5–18 years who were patients of a comprehensive specialty clinic in an urban Northeast medical center and were cared for at home on complex anti-retroviral drug regimens. Parents reported the children’s functioning in multiple domains using the American Spanish (one-third) or English (two-thirds) versions of the CHQ-28. Internal consistencies ranged from Cronbach’s alpha of 0.62–0.83. Correlations between the physical and psychosocial summary scores and their components supported the instrument’s conceptualization of health although some overlap between domains was demonstrated. Differences between the CHQ profile for healthy norm children and this clinical sample were logically consistent with the disease characteristics. Individual scales of the CHQ-28 show promise as research outcome measures for health related quality of life in children living in the community with HIV disease and perhaps could be useful for studies of children with other chronic illness.