[Validation of quality of life questionnaire ConQol for Chilean children with congenital heart diseases].

BACKGROUND ConQoL questionnaire assesses health related quality of life among children with congenital heart diseases. It has a version for children aged 8 to 11 years and another for children aged 12 to 16 years. AIM To validate ConQol questionnaire for Chilean children with a congenital heart disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS Using a multicentric cross sectional design, 334 children from four hospitals (54% males), were surveyed. Among them 45% were aged 8 to 11 years and 55%, 12 to 16 years. The study involved three stages: cross cultural adjustment of the original questionnaire, pre-test study, and estimation of its psychometric properties. Content, construct and criterion validity and internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha, were assessed. RESULTS The version for children aged 8 to 11 years and comprised by three domains (symptoms, activity and relationships), obtained and α ≥ 0.60. In the questionnaire for children aged 12 to 16 years, there is one more domain called coping, which obtained an α of 0.53, that was different to the other three domains that obtained an α > 0.70. The correlation between Health Quality of Life and Perception of Health Quality of Life was statistically significant for both groups. The association between Health Quality of Life and health capability was only significant among children aged 12 to 16 years (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The adapted ConQol questionnaire matched properly with the original one. The adapted questionnaire is valid and reliable to assess Health Quality of Life among Chilean children with congenital heart diseases.