10danish

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

S. Nielsen¹, N. Ruperto², T. Herlin³, F.K. Pedersen¹, for the Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation (PRINTO)

¹Juliane Marie Centret, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; ²Laboratorio di Informatica Medica, IRCCS S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy; ³Skejby Sygehus, Århus, Denmark.

ABSTRACT
We report herein the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation into the Danish 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 Danish CHAQ-CHQ were fully validated with 3 forward and 3 backward translations. A total of 139 subjects were enrolled: 76 patients with JIA (25% systemic onset, 30% polyarticular onset, 19% extended oligoarticular subtype, and 26% persistent oligoarticular subtype) and 63 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 Danish version of the CHAQ-CHQ is a reliable, and valid tool for the functional, physical and psychosocial assessment of children with JIA.

Key words
Danish Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ), Danish 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), by IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy, and by Telecom Italy.

Please address correspondence and requests for reprints to either: Susan Nielsen, MD, Juliane Marie Centret, Rigshospitalet, Pediatrisk klinik II, Afsnit 4064, Blegdamsvej 9, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
E-mail: susan_rh04430_nielsen@rh.dk
or PRINTO, IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pediatria Generale e Reumatologia, Piazzale Golgi no. 2, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
E-mail: nruperto@smatteo.pv.it
WWW: http://www.medit.it/printo/