Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jul;40(6):591-601.
doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsv005. Epub 2015 Feb 13.

Interpretability of the PedsQL™ Gastrointestinal Symptoms Scales and Gastrointestinal Worry Scales in Pediatric Patients With Functional and Organic Gastrointestinal Diseases

James W Varni  1 , Cristiane B Bendo  2 , Robert J Shulman  2 , Mariella M Self  3 , Samuel Nurko  2 , James P Franciosi  2 , Miguel Saps  2 , Shehzad Saeed  2 , George M Zacur  2 , Chelsea Vaughan Dark  2 , John F Pohl  2 ; Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ Gastrointestinal Symptoms Module Testing Study Consortium
Collaborators, Affiliations

Interpretability of the PedsQL™ Gastrointestinal Symptoms Scales and Gastrointestinal Worry Scales in Pediatric Patients With Functional and Organic Gastrointestinal Diseases

James W Varni et al. J Pediatr Psychol. 2015 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: The present study investigates the clinical interpretability of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ (PedsQL™) Gastrointestinal Symptoms Scales and Worry Scales in pediatric patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders or organic gastrointestinal diseases in comparison with healthy controls.

Methods: The PedsQL™ Gastrointestinal Scales were completed by 587 patients with gastrointestinal disorders/diseases and 685 parents, and 513 healthy children and 337 parents. Minimal important difference (MID) scores were derived from the standard error of measurement (SEM). Cut-points were derived based on one and two standard deviations (SDs) from the healthy reference means.

Results: The percentages of patients below the scales' cut-points were significantly greater than the healthy controls (most p values ≤ .001). Scale scores 2 SDs from the healthy reference means were within the range of scores for pediatric patients with a gastrointestinal disorder. MID values were generated using the SEM.

Conclusions: The findings support the clinical interpretability of the new PedsQL™ Gastrointestinal Symptoms Scales and Worry Scales.

Keywords: PedsQL.; gastrointestinal symptoms; minimal important difference; patient-reported outcomes.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Alonso E. M., Limbers C. A., Neighbors K., Martz K., Bucuvalas J. C., Webb T., Varni J. W. (2010). Cross-sectional analysis of health-related quality of life in pediatric liver transplant recipients. Journal of Pediatrics, 156, 270–276. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bjorner J. B., Rose M., Gandek B., Stone A. A., Junghaenel D. U., Ware J. E. (2014). Difference in method of administration did not significantly impact item response: An IRT-based analysis from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) initiative. Quality of Life Research, 23, 217–227. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Calvert M., Blazeby J., Altman D. G., Revicki D. A., Moher D., Brundage M. D. (2013). Reporting of patient-reported outcomes in randomized trials: The CONSORT PRO extension. JAMA, 309, 814–822. - PubMed
    1. Carle A. C., Blumberg S. J., Moore K. A., Mbwana K. (2011). Advanced psychometric methods for developing and evaluating cut-point-based indicators. Child Indicators Research, 4, 101–126.
    1. Chitkara D. K., Rawat D. J., Talley N. J. (2005). The epidemiology of childhood recurrent abdominal pain in Western countries: A systematic review. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 100, 1868–1875. - PubMed

Publication types