WHODAS-Child: psychometric properties of the WHODAS 2.0 for children and youth among Italian children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Purpose A contribution to the Italian adaptation of the original English version of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 for children and youth (WHODAS-Child), proxy-administered among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability. Materials and methods Observational and retrospective study with within-dependent variables by cross-sectional sampling on psychometric properties (internal consistency and construct/criterion validity) of the 36- and 7-item versions of the Italian WHODAS-Child. The original English version was translated into Italian, also considering the Italian version of the WHODAS 2.0 for adults. The Italian questionnaire was then translated back into English. All authors compared the original and back-translated English versions. The sample was collected among parents and clinicians of 100 children with ASD. To assess convergent/divergent validity, the Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule (ADOS) was also administered. Results Cronbach’s α for both versions’ total scores was good. WHODAS-Child also showed a positive correlation with the three DSM-5 levels of impairment. A pattern of correlations with the ADOS was found for all domains of the WHODAS-Child except for the mobility and self-care domains. Conclusions The WHODAS-Child Italian proxy-administered version has the potential to be a reliable and valid tool to measure functional impairment in children with ASD. Implications for rehabilitation World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 for children and youth (WHODAS-Child) has shown to be sensitive in detecting children and youth functioning in the domains of activity and participation. WHODAS-Child Italian version seems to be a reliable and valid tool to measure the functional impairment in children with autism spectrum disorder. A critical issue for rehabilitation is that a single “minimal clinically important difference” score for the WHODAS-Child has not yet been established.