Abstract
BackgroundKidscreen-27 was developed as part of a cross-cultural European Union-funded project to standardise the measurement of children’s health-related quality of life. Yet, research has reported mixed evidence for the hypothesised 5-factor model, and no confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has been conducted on the instrument with children of low socio-economic status (SES) across Ireland (Northern and Republic).MethodThe data for this study were collected as part of a clustered randomised controlled trial. A total of 663 (347 male, 315 female) 8–9-year-old children (M = 8.74, SD = .50) of low SES took part. A 5- and modified 7-factor CFA models were specified using the maximum likelihood estimation. A nested Chi-square difference test was conducted to compare the fit of the models. Internal consistency and floor and ceiling effects were also examined.ResultsCFA found that the hypothesised 5-factor model was an unacceptable fit. However, the modified 7-factor model was supported. A nested Chi-square difference test confirmed that the fit of the 7-factor model was significantly better than that of the 5-factor model. Internal consistency was unacceptable for just one scale. Ceiling effects were present in all but one of the factors.ConclusionsFuture research should apply the 7-factor model with children of low socio-economic status. Such efforts would help monitor the health status of the population.
Highlights
Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a multi-dimensional construct and refers to physical, psychological, social and behavioural components of children’s well-being [1]
As the United Kingdom (UK) Government include well-being as a marker of health [2], HRQOL measures can be used to assess the health status of the population
The objective of this study is to present the psychometric properties of Kidscreen-27 with Irish children of low socio-economic status (SES)
Summary
Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a multi-dimensional construct and refers to physical, psychological, social and behavioural components of children’s well-being [1]. The 5-factor structure of Kidscreen-27 has received mixed support with some studies finding a good [11,12,13] and unacceptable fit with modifications for a 7-factor structure [14] One of these studies [11] included children from the Republic of Ireland, the socio-economic status (SES) of these participants was not reported. It is necessary to conduct CFA on Kidscreen-27 to determine whether: (a) researchers should opt for the hypothesised 5-factor [11] or modified [14] 7-factor structure; and (b) whether Kidscreen-27 is a psychometrically consistent measure of HRQOL for children of low SES across both Irish jurisdictions (Northern and Republic). The purpose of testing the instrument is to determine whether the measure is conceptually valid and internally consistent for assessing HRQOL with children This evidence presented below recommends how future research can monitor the health status of the population using Kidscreen-27
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