3austria

The Austrian version of the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) and the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ)

C. Huemer¹, N. Ruperto², M. Huemer¹, M. Sailer-Hoeck³, W. Kaulfersch⁴, R. Schwarz⁵, A. Rettenbacher⁶, H. Kenzian⁷, G. Artacker⁸, I. Pilz⁹, M. Bernecker⁹, H.I. Huppertz¹⁰, J.M. Landgraf ¹¹, for the Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation (PRINTO)

¹Universitätsklinik für Kinder- und Jugendheilkunde, Wien, Austria; ²Laboratorio di Informatica Medica, IRCCS S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy; ³Univ Klinik für Kinderheilkunde, Innsbruck, Austria; ⁴LKH Klagenfurt/Kinderabt.,Klagenfurt, ⁵Landeskinderklinik Linz, Austria; ⁶Kinderspital, Salzburg, Austria; ⁷A.O. Krankenhaus Villach, Austria; ⁸Donauspital, Wien, Austria. ⁹Gottfried von Preyer'sches Kinderspital, Wien, Austria; ¹⁰Zentralkrankenhaus, Bremen, Germany; 11HealthAct, Boston, MA, USA.

ABSTRACT
We report herein the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation into the Austrian language of the parent’s version of two health related quality of life instruments. The Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) is a disease specific health instrument that measures functional ability in daily living activities in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) is a generic health instrument designed to capture the physical and psychosocial well-being of children independently from the underlying disease. The Austrian CHAQ CHQ were adapted from the German version of the CHAQ-CHQ, and revalidated in this study. A total of 134 subjects were enrolled: 74 patients with JIA (9.5% systemic onset, 42% polyarticular onset, 9.5% extended oligoarticular subtype, and 39% persistent oligoarticular subtype) and 60 healthy children. The CHAQ clinically discriminated between healthy subjects and JIA patients, with the systemic, polyarticular and extended oligoarticular subtypes having a higher degree of disability, pain, and a lower overall well-being when compared to their healthy peers. Also the CHQ clinically discriminated between healthy subjects and JIA patients, with the systemic onset, polyarticular onset and extended oligoarticular subtypes having a lower physical and psychosocial well-being when compared to their healthy peers.
In conclusion the Austrian version of the CHAQ-CHQ is a reliable, and valid tool for the functional, physical and psychosocial assessment of children with JIA.

Key words
Austrian Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ), Austrian Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ), cross cultural adaptation and psychometric evaluation, health related quality of life, juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), healthy children.

Supported by a grant from the European Union (BMH4-983531 CA), and by IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo (Pavia, Italy).

Please address correspondence and requests for reprints to either: Christian Huemer, MD, Universitäts - Klinik für Kinder und Jugendheilkunde, WŠhringer Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Wien, Austria.
E-mail: christian.huemer@akh-wien.ac.at
or PRINTO, IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo
Pediatria Generale e Reumatologia, Piazzale Golgi, 2, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
E-mail: nruperto@smatteo.pv.it
WWW: http://www.medit.it/printo/