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

J. De Inocencio¹, J. García-Consuegra², R. Merino², I. Calvo³, J.J. García⁴, N. Ruperto⁵, for the Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation (PRINTO)

¹C.S. Estrecho de Corea; ²Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid; ³Hospital Doctor Peset, Valencia; ⁴Hospital San Juan de Dios-Clínico, Barcelona, Spain; ⁵Laboratorio di Informatica Medica, IRCCS S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy.

ABSTRACT
We report herein the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of 2 health related quality of life instruments into the European Spanish language. 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 an underlying disease. The Spanish CHQ was fully validated with 3 forward and 3 backward translations, while the Spanish CHAQ, already published, was revalidated. A total of 149 subjects were enrolled: 80 patients with JIA (28% systemic arthritis, 34% polyarthritis, 17% extended oligoarthritis, and 21% persistent oligoarthritis) and 69 healthy children. The CHAQ appropriately distinguished healthy subjects from JIA patients, with those classified in the systemic arthritis, polyarthritis and extended oligoarthritis categories having a higher degree of disability and pain, as well as a lower overall well-being than their healthy peers. The CHQ was also able to discriminate healthy subjects from JIA patients, with those allocated in the systemic arthritis, polyarthritis and extended oligoarthritis categories having a lower physical and psychosocial well-being than their healthy counterparts.
In conclusion, the European Spanish version of the CHAQ-CHQ is a reliable and valid tool for the functional, physical and psychosocial assessment of children with JIA.

Key words
European Spanish Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ), European Spanish 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: Jaime De Inocencio, MD, Hospital Universitario "La Paz", Unidad de Reumatología Pediátrica, Paseo de la Castellana 261, 28046 Madrid, Spain.
E-mail: deinocjm@eresmas.net
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/