Quality of life of asthmatic children and adolescents: Portuguese translation, adaptation, and validation of the questionnaire "Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL) Asthma Module"

Abstract

Objective: The objectives of the study were to translate, validate, and verify the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the instrument "Pediatric Quality of Life Asthma Module" (PedsQL Asthma) culturally adapted for the Brazilian culture.

Methods: After being translated to Portuguese and being culturally adapted, the questionnaire was answered by 200 asthmatic children and adolescents (aged 2-18) as well as the adults responsible for them. Validation required the use of the following instruments: PedsQL Asthma Children (applied to children and adolescents), PedsQL Asthma Parents (applied to adults responsible for children and adolescents), Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life (PAQLQ), Asthma Control Test (ACT) or Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT), as well as socioeconomic and personal information questionnaires. A group of 45 clinically stable children repeated the questionnaires 15-60 days after answering the first questionnaire.

Results: Correlations between the scores of PedsQL Children and PedsQL Parents (r = 0.67), PedsQL Children and PAQLQ (r = 0.66), and PedsQL Parents and PAQLQ (r = 0.64) were moderate and significant. Correlations were higher for men (r = 0.72) when analyzing the children's and parents' answers to PedsQL according to gender. The 5- to 7-year-old age group had the strongest correlations with PAQLQ (r = 0.79). Cronbach's alpha coefficient for PedsQL Children and Parents had values of 0.85 and 0.87, respectively. A high concordance was observed in both tests at different times, with kappa values of 0.89 and 0.87 for PedsQL Children and Parents, respectively.

Conclusion: The instrument used in this study was considered valid, consistent, and reproducible and has acceptable psychometric properties for the Brazilian population.

Keywords: Adolescent; asthma; child; quality of life; questionnaires; validation studies.