Psychometric properties of an Arabic translation of the quality of life in childhood epilepsy questionnaire (QOLCE-55)

Reappraising self-report and proxy-report measures for assessing health-related quality of life in pediatric epilepsy: A scoping review

This scoping review aimed to evaluate specific measures of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children with epilepsy including patient- and proxy-reports, to determine their suitability for use in the clinical setting. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO Scopus for studies on the childhood epilepsy questionnaires identified as having better measurement properties and/or including proxy and parent reports. Then, we selected the studies that analyzed the agreement between child and caregiver ratings. We identified five scales i.e., the QoLPES, the HARCES, the PedsQL-Epilepsy Module, and the CHEQoL-25 and observed a moderate to high agreement between the proxy-reports and child self-reports. The CHEQoL-25 appears to be preferable due to its well-documented psychometric properties, high usability, and adequate agreement between proxy and child versions. This scoping review highlights the need to use PROMs that allow to gather information from both the caregiver and child, with the CHEQoL-25 being the best candidate for assessing HRQol in children with epilepsy.

Cross-cultural validation and psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the quality of life in Childhood epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE-55)

OBJECTIVE

The aims of the present study were to translate and validate the Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE-55) into Spanish.

METHODS

A backtranslation procedure was used to translate the English version of QOLCE-55 to Spanish, and subsequently, parents of 88 children (aged four to 12 years), completed the Spanish version of three self-reported questionnaires: the QOLCE-55, the Pediatric Quality-of-Life Inventory (PedsQLTM 4.0), and the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ). Seven to 10 days later, parents completed the questionnaires again under the same conditions.

RESULTS

Internal consistency was between 0.669 and 0.968 for the four subscales: cognitive (CF), emotional (EF), social (SF) and physical functioning (PF); and 0.954 for the total score. The test-retest reliability assessed with the intraclass correlation coefficient obtained values from 0.683 for SF to 0.962 for CF. The standard error of measurement for the total score was 5.776, and the minimal detectable change was 16.01. Spearman correlations between the total score of the Spanish version of the QOLCE-55 with the subscales was 0.760 for the CF, 0.776 for the EF, 0.799 for the SF, and 0.682 for the PF (p < 0.001). Convergent validity of QOLCE-55 with the PedsQLTM 4.0 scale was -0.962 (p < 0.001), and the discriminant validity of the QOLCE-55 with PSQ was 0.154 (p = 0.272). This version presented a correlation with maximum lifetime consumption of anti-epileptic drugs (0.500; p < 0.001), and current consumption (0.448; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The Spanish version of the QOLCE-55 has demonstrated adequate psychometric properties, indicating that it can be confidently used to measure the health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) in children with epilepsy in a Spanish-speaking population. These results corroborate the instrument's cross-cultural validity.