Utility of the Pediatric Allergic Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire for childhood eczema.

BACKGROUND: Childhood atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with pruritus and sleep loss. It is important to evaluate quality-of-life (QoL) impairment objectively in atopic diseases in children. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the utility of the Pediatric Allergic Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (PADQLQ) in children with eczema. METHODS: PADQLQ, Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM, a short-term subjective symptom score), Nottingham Eczema Severity Score (NESS, a long-term subjective symptom score) and Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI, a short-term subjective symptom score) were compared and correlations evaluated. RESULTS: PADQLQ, POEM, NESS and CDLQI correlated well with each other (n = 132 sets; Spearman correlations: rho = 0·48-0·70, P < 0·001). A Bland-Altman plot showed a reasonably good agreement between CDLQI and PADQLQ. PADQLQ showed that symptoms of asthma, allergic conjunctivitis and allergic rhinitis were present in 20-30%, 45-71% and 58-67% of children with AD, respectively. Nevertheless, there was no association of eczema symptomatology by POEM or NESS with the severity of other allergic diseases. CONCLUSIONS: PADQLQ correlates well with AD-specific severity and QoL scores and reflects all allergic symptoms that holistically influence QoL in children with AD. PADQLQ is hence a composite severity score in terms of clinical symptomatology and QoL impairment for AD.

Assessment of adherence to eczema treatment in Hong Kong children.

Introduction: Eczema is the most common childhood skin problem in Hong Kong. Treatment adherence is crucial in symptom management and the effectiveness of eczema management. The Problematic Experiences of Therapy Scale (PETS) is used to assess adherence to treatment among children with eczema. Objective: This study examined the psychometric properties of the translated Chinese version of PETS (C-PETS) among parents and caregivers of children with eczema. Methods: PETS was translated into Chinese and data obtained from a convenience sample of 147 Chinese participants from a regional hospital in Hong Kong. Results: The internal consistency of C-PETS with a Cronbach's α of 0.93 and good test-retest reliability with weighted Kappa ranging from 0.74 to 0.89 were obtained. Significant positive correlations were found among the C-PETS, Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (r = 0.25, p = .002), and Severity Grading of Atopic Dermatitis scores (r = 0.38, p = .001). A significant negative correlation was found between C-PETS and Chinese adaptation of Generic Self-Efficacy scale (r = -0.40, p = .001). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the data supported the structural validity of C-PETS. Conclusion: This study indicates that C-PETS is a reliable and valid measure to evaluate treatment adherence for Chinese parents and caregivers of children with eczema.