Barbara Elliott

Cross-cultural Validation of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 (PedsQL™) generic core scale into Arabic Language

BACKGROUND A range of scales is available to measure health-related quality of life. Recently, established quality of life scales have been translated for use in a wide range of Western and non-Western cultures. One of the most widely used health-related quality of life scales for use with children is the PedsQL™ 4.0. In this paper, we describe the process of translating this scale into Arabic and establishing its reliability and validity. AIM This paper has three aims: first, to explain the process of translating the PedsQL™ (4.0) self- and proxy-reports for the ages 8-12 and 13-18, from English into Arabic; second, to assess the reliability of the new Arabic version of the scale and third, to assess its validity. METHOD The scale was translated from English to Arabic and back-translated to ensure accuracy. The Arabic version was administered to healthy children and those with cancer and a range of chronic illnesses in Jordan. Statistical methods were used to test the psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the Arabic version of the PedsQL™ (4.0) and its ability to discriminate between children in the above groups. RESULTS Cronbachs alpha coefficients for child self- and parent proxy-reports exceeded 0.7 for the total scores, health summary scores and psychological health summary scores. Testing for discriminant validity showed that the healthy (control) group had a higher health-related quality of life than children and young people with cancer and chronic illness. The children with chronic illnesses had the lowest scores for physical, emotional and school functioning. CONCLUSION Initial testing of the Arabic version of the PedsQL™ (4.0) suggests that the scale has satisfactory psychometric properties.

The Prevalence of Depression in Pediatric Oncology Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy Treatment in Jordan

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depression in pediatric oncology patients in Jordan, comparing them with peers who suffered from chronic conditions or were healthy. The authors investigated 58 children with cancer, 56 with chronic illnesses, and 64 healthy controls using the Arabic version of the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI). There was no significant difference in CDI scores between children with cancer, children with chronic illnesses, and healthy controls. Using the conventional cutoff point of a score of 20 gives a prevalence of 20.68% for child-reported depression in the cancer group. This is toward the high end of the range for similar studies in other countries. The results suggest that children with cancer undergoing chemotherapy are no more likely to be depressed than children with chronic illnesses or healthy controls, although further research is warranted.