Evidence-based assessment of health-related quality of life and functional impairment in pediatric psychology

Objective: To provide an evidence-based review of measures of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and functional impairment, with a specific focus on their use in the field of pediatric psychology. Methods: As part of a larger survey of pediatric psychologists from the Society of Pediatric Psychology e-mail listserv (American Psychological Association, APA, Division 54), 16 measures were selected for this psychometric review. Measures that qualified for the review fell into one of the following three categories: (a) generic HRQOL scales, (b) disease-specific quality of life scales, and (c) functional impairment rating scales. Results: Psychometric characteristics (i.e., three types of reliability, two types of validity) were strong for the majority of measures reviewed, with 12 of the 16 measures meeting "well-established" evidence-based assessment criteria. Strengths and weaknesses of existing measures were noted. Conclusions: Recommendations for future work in this area of assessment are presented, including suggestions that further validation and exploration of measure properties such as factor analysis and changes in HRQOL over time be conducted.