Turkish Validity and Reliability of a Pediatric Quality of Life Cancer Module for Children Aged 8-12 and Parents

Abstract

This descriptive study was conducted to determine the validity and reliability in Turkey of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Cancer Module (PedsQL 3.0) for children aged 8-12 in the hematology-oncology polyclinics of two university hospitals in Istanbul during the period 2006-2007. The data collection instruments were the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL 4.0), the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Cancer Module (PedsQL 3.0) and a socio-demographic questionnaire, applied for 146 children diagnosed with cancer and 146 parents. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the PedsQL 3.0 were found to be 0.602-0.982 for sub-groups with the children's form, 0.644-0.966 with the parents' form. The scale was found to give a significantly high level of reliability (0.60 <= +/- alpha <0.80). Significant and directly proportional correlations were demonstrated between the forms for children and parents. It was concluded that the PedsQL 3.0 cancer module is a valid and reliable tool for assessing the quality of life of Turkish children, aged 8-12, diagnosed with cancer.