Development and validation of the needs of children questionnaire: An instrument to measure children's self-reported needs in hospital.

AIM

To develop and psychometrically test the needs of children questionnaire (NCQ), a new instrument to measure school-aged children's self-reported psychosocial physical and emotional needs in paediatric wards.

DESIGN

This is an instrument development study based on recommendations for developing a reliable and valid questionnaire.

METHOD

The NCQ was developed over three phases between February 2013-April 2017 and included item generation; content adequacy assessment; questionnaire administration; factor analysis; internal consistency assessment and construct validity. Psychometric properties were assessed after 193 school-aged children completed the needs of children's questionnaire in four paediatric areas in Australia and New Zealand.

RESULTS

The development and validation of the NCQ over two countries resulted in a 16-item, four-category tool to measure the self-reported importance and fulfilment of school-aged children's needs in hospital. Cronbach's alpha for the combined samples was 0.93.

CONCLUSION

The NCQ bridges a gap to measure the level of importance and fulfilment of school-aged children's self-reported needs in hospital. Future testing and validation is needed in other paediatric areas and countries.

IMPACT

The 16-item NCQ is a valid measure to evaluate if the quality of care delivered and received in hospital is in line with what children self-report as important and required and to date indicates good usability and utility. Child self-reports are essential to inform healthcare delivery, policy, research and theory development from a child and family-centred care lens that honours the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the best interests of the child.