[Development and initial psychometric analysis of the generic quality of life questionnaire for Polish children and adolescents (KIDSCREEN-52)].

BACKGROUND KIDSCREEN was developed as EC project simultaneously in 13 European countries in ten languages and provided generic measure of quality of life (QOL) in children and adolescents aged 8-18 yrs. An instrument was constructed including 52 items grouped in 10 dimensions, as well as 2 shorter versions, both for children and parents as proxy respondents. AIMS this study describes the development and initial psychometric evaluation of Polish KIDSCREEN-52 instrument. MATERIAL the questionnaire was tested in a national mail survey conducted on the representative sample of 1718 children and adolescents aged 8-18 yrs. RESULTS Polish children and adolescents reported the highest QOL scores for social acceptance and moods and emotions, and the lowest for financial resources and school environment. Gender differences are small in children and but increased in adolescents, especially in self-perception. Cronbach's a ranged from 0.79 to 0.91, and was a little higher in girls than in boys, and higher in adolescents than in younger children. As expected, very high differences were observed between mentally healthy and ill children identified by SDQ (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). To assess the relationship with chronic conditions, the Children with Special Health Care Needs Screener (CSHCN) was applied. Children with special health care needs especially reported lower physical well-being in comparison to healthy children, with moderate effect size. There was a moderate but significant correlation between all ten QOL dimensions measured by KIDSCREEN-52 and other QOL measures applied so far at national level (for example Cantril ladder). CONCLUSION preliminary results suggested that KIDSCREEN questionnaire could be implemented at the national level and included in health surveys to monitor, evaluate and improve health and subjective well-being in children and adolescents. The Polish version of KIDSCREEN-52 questionnaire is reliable and valid, however, more psychometric analyses should be carried out, national norms should be estimated and some international comparisons be conducted.