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PAEDIATRIC RHINOCONJUNCTIVITIS QUALITY OF LIFE QUESTIONNAIRE (PRQLQ)For Children 6 - 12 years Introduction The Paediatric Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (PRQLQ) was developed to measure the functional problems (physical, emotional and social) that are most troublesome to children with rhinoconjunctivitis (hayfever). Development After identifying all the possible problems that children, with rhinoconjunctivitis may experience, we asked 34 children in this age group to tell us which of these problems they had experienced as a result of their nose and eye symptoms and to score each positively identified problem according to how troublesome it was. The items that were identified most frequently by the children and which scored highest were included in the PRQLQ. The Questionnaire The PRQLQ has 23 questions in 5 domains (nose symptoms, eye symptoms, practical problems, activity limitation and other symptoms). Children recall how they have been during the previous week and respond to each question on a 7-point scale. The overall PRQLQ score is the mean of all 23 responses and the individual domain scores are the means of the items in the those domains. Validity The PRQLQ has strong measurement properties and good validity in children between the ages of 6 and 12 years. Child or Parent as Respondent? A large number of studies, both in rhinoconjunctivitis and other paediatric conditions, have shown that parents often have a very poor perception of the problems that their child experiences as a result of their illness. Therefore, it must always be the child who responds to the questions - never the parent or caregiver. In addition, we always ask parents to wait in another room. This prevents the child looking to the parent for guidance and it stops the parent telling the child how to respond or challenging the child’s own response. In addition, some children, for a wide range of reasons, do not want their parents to know about their problems. Understanding the Questions, Responses and Recall Time All the words used in the PRQLQ are words that children themselves use to describe their problems. Therefore, understanding the questions is never an issue. In addition, we have never encountered any problems with children 6 years and older understanding the concept of the 7-point response scale. Only the recall time (one week) is sometimes difficult for younger children. The concept of time develops late and it is for this reason that the PAQLQ should not be used in children under 6 years old - young children can tell you how they are now but do not recall accurately how they have been during the previous 7 days. Full instructions on how to administer the PRQLQ to younger children, including how to explain the response scale and check that the child understands the concept of ‘during the last week’, are included in our implementation manual. Primary Reference Juniper EF, Howland WC, Roberts NB, Thompson AK , King DR . Measuring quality of life in children with rhinoconjunctivitis. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1998; 101: 163-170. Original language: English for North America Formats: Paper: Interviewer-administered
Adolescent Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (AdolRQLQ) | Paediatric Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (PRQLQ) |
