Self-reported quality of life among inner-city youth with asthma: an empirical examination of the PedsQL 3.0 Asthma Module.

BACKGROUND

Asthma disproportionately affects African American youth and may significantly impair their daily functioning. Although a number of self-reported health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures have been developed, many rely on parent proxy report rather than youth self-report. Few validity studies have been undertaken to evaluate youth self-report instruments, and studies of economically disadvantaged ethnic minority populations are particularly lacking.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the psychometric properties of the PedsQL 3.0 Asthma Module, a widely available self-report index of HRQoL in a sample of inner-city African American youth.

METHODS

Seventy African American youth with asthma (age range, 9-17 years) and their primary caregivers participated. Youth completed the PedsQL 3.0 Asthma Module (developed for youth aged 5-18 years), whereas caregivers provided reports of youth HRQoL, asthma symptoms, health care use, and school absences. Ratings of asthma severity were obtained via physician rating and spirometry.

RESULTS

The PedsQL 3.0 Asthma Module total and subscale scores evidenced adequate internal consistency (alpha values >.70), convergent validity with parent proxy ratings of HRQoL and other indexes of functional impairment and differentiated between youth with greater and lesser disease severity.

CONCLUSION

HRQoL can be reliably assessed using the self-report form of the PedsQL 3.0 Asthma Module among 9- to 17-year-old African American youth from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.