Translation and Validation of a Health-Related Quality of Life Instrument for 18-60-Month-Old Children in Korea

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to validate the Korean version of the TNO-AZL Preschool Children Quality of Life (TAPQOL) questionnaire for children aged 18?60 months. Methods: The participants were 223 mothers of healthy children from nurseries and kindergartens, and 54 mothers of hospitalized children from a university children’s hospital in Korea. Data were collected in 2011. Principal component factor analysis and known-groups method were used to confirm construct validity, and internal consistency was used to determine reliability. Results: According to the factor analysis, 11 factors with an eigenvalue over 1 were extracted, and these factors explained 73.5% of the variance. All dimensions except two had Cronbach’s alpha coefficients greater than .7. The mean TAPQOL scores of the hospitalized group were significantly lower than those of the healthy group (p=.001) for all four functions (physical, emotional, social, and cognitive). Conclusions: The TAPQOL showed acceptable validity and reliability, and can be used to measure children’s health-related quality of life in Korea, and can be considered for use in other Asian countries.