The Responsiveness of the Modified Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire.

Abstract

To determine the ability of the revised version of the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ), the VAS_CHAQ, to detect clinical change over time in pediatric patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We studied the relative responsiveness of the VAS_CHAQ as compared to the original CHAQ-30 and revised CHAQ-38, as well as the parent-patient, physician-patient, and physician-parent concordance. The CHAQ-38 and VAS_CHAQ were administered to 30 parents and patients (if older than 8 years) with any subtype of JIA before and after the start of a new treatment. The standardized response means (SRM) were calculated for the VAS_CHAQ, the original CHAQ-30, and the CHAQ-38. Comparisons of SRM were made using the relative SRM. Parent-patient, physician-patient, and physician-parent concordances were assessed by calculating a series of intraclass correlation coefficients. Twenty-seven parents and 21 patients completed questionnaires at both visits. All questionnaires demonstrated large responsiveness; however, the VAS_CHAQ was found to be about 25% more responsive than both the original CHAQ-30 and CHAQ-38. The VAS_CHAQ was moderately more responsive than the CHAQ-30 and CHAQ-38 in both parent and patient groups and should be considered for use in studies evaluating change in function over time.