Development and initial validation of a pictorial quality of life measure for young children with asthma.

OBJECTIVE To develop and assess the psychometric properties of a pictorial version of the Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ). METHODS A pictorial PAQLQ was administered to 101 children with mild to severe asthma between 5 and 7 years of age. A subgroup of 48 children followed longitudinally completed the established version of the PAQLQ. RESULTS A confirmatory factor analysis with modifications supported the factor structure of the established PAQLQ. The pictorial measure exhibited internal consistency reliability and convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that the pictorial version of the PAQLQ has an underlying factor structure that is similar to that of the established PAQLQ. Future research with larger and diverse samples is needed to confirm the factor structure of the pictorial PAQLQ.