^{The Dutch version of the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) and the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ)}

N. Wulffraat¹, J.J. van der Net¹, N. Ruperto², S. Kamphuis¹, B.J. Prakken¹, R. Ten Cate³, R.M. Van Soesbergen⁴, M.A. Van Rossum³, H. Raat⁵, J.M. Landgraf⁶, W. Kuis¹, for the Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation (PRINTO)*
*The first two authors contributed equally to this work.

¹UMC Utrecht-Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis, Utrecht, Netherlands; ²Laboratorio di Informatica Medica, IRCCS S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy; ³Academisch Ziekenhuis Leiden, Leiden, ⁴Slotervaartziekenhuis, Amsterdam, ⁵Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands; 6HealthAct, Boston, MA, USA.

ABSTRACT
We report herein the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation into the Dutch 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 Dutch CHAQ was fully validated with 3 forward and 3 backward translations while the CHQ was already published and therefore it was revalidated. A total of 180 subjects were enrolled: 100 patients with JIA (17% systemic onset, 31% polyarticular onset, 18% extended oligoarticular subtype, and 34% persistent oligoarticular subtype) and 80 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 Dutch version of the CHAQ-CHQ is a reliable, and valid tool for the functional, physical and psychosocial assessment of children with JIA.

Key words
Dutch Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ), Dutch 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: Wietse Kuis, MD, UMC Utrecht-Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis, Department of Pediatric Immunology and Rheumatology, PO box 85090 Lundlaan 6, KB.03.023.2, 3508 AB Utrecht, Netherlands.
E-mail: w.kuis@wkz.azu.nl
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/

Clin Exp Rheumatol 2001; 19 (Suppl. 23): S111-S115.
� Copyright Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology 2001.