Use of the child health questionnaire in children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review and evaluation of the psychometric properties.

OBJECTIVE To review the psychometric performance of the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) in samples of children with cerebral palsy (CP). METHOD Four search terms were applied to five databases in a search for papers published between 1993 and January 2007. RESULTS A total of 13 papers were identified, providing data on 1229 unique children aged 2-18 years old. Three studies reported on the reliability of the CHQ (internal consistency), whilst six studies provided evidence on various dimensions of validity (concurrent; discriminant and item discriminant validity). CONCLUSIONS This review identified a number of psychometric issues that need to be addressed. These include the assessment of additional types of reliability; an examination of the factor structure of the CHQ within the CP population; and the development of normative data using substantial representative samples, particularly in Europe. Until these issues are addressed, researchers utilizing the CHQ in children with CP should be cautious about its interpretation.