Ronen G M, Rosenbaum P, Law M, Streiner D L
Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Qual Life Res. 2001;10(1):71-9. doi: 10.1023/a:1016659917227.
Qualitative methodology has been under-utilized in child health research due to lack of a specific set of instruments. The objective of this study was to develop a child-centred qualitative research methodology to facilitate direct exploration of health-related quality of life (HRQL) issues and to identify the quality of life elements in pre-adolescent children with a chronic medical condition.
Purposeful stratified sampling of children, ages 6-12, who function in a regular school class, with active epilepsy who were assembled in small focus groups. The groups met in four phases and were led by moderators who probed preset open questions and activities.
The study demonstrated that our modified focus groups process was a powerful exploratory experience eliciting meaningful and important issues in quality of life beyond what parents and health professionals expected, and helped identify HRQL elements in childhood epilepsy.
Modified focus groups are appropriate and suitable to explore quality of life issues in pre-adolescent children with a chronic medical condition. The process is feasible and trustworthy.
由于缺乏一套特定的工具，定性方法在儿童健康研究中的应用不足。本研究的目的是开发一种以儿童为中心的定性研究方法，以促进对健康相关生活质量（HRQL）问题的直接探索，并确定患有慢性疾病的青春期前儿童的生活质量要素。
对6至12岁、在常规学校班级中学习、患有活动性癫痫的儿童进行有目的的分层抽样，将他们分成小型焦点小组。这些小组分四个阶段进行会面，由主持人引导，主持人会探究预设的开放性问题并开展活动。
该研究表明，我们改进后的焦点小组过程是一次有力的探索性体验，引出了超出家长和健康专业人员预期的有关生活质量的有意义且重要的问题，并有助于确定儿童癫痫中的HRQL要素。
改进后的焦点小组适用于探索患有慢性疾病的青春期前儿童的生活质量问题。该过程可行且可靠。
