Shortening the VSP-A: preliminary development of the VSP-A12, a 12-item short-form.

The 'Vécu et Santé Perçue des Adolescents' (VSP-A) questionnaire is a French generic self-administered health-related quality of life (HRQL) instrument for adolescents which comprises 40 items, allowing the calculation of six dimensions as well as an index. Regression methods were used to select 12 items from the VSP-A to reproduce its HRQL index. The resulting 12-item short-form (VSP-A12) achieved an adjusted R2 of 0.907 in prediction of the VSP-A index. Scoring algorithm used to score this 12-item index achieved a R2 of 0.901 with the VSP-A index when cross-validated in the validation sample (n = 2941). Numerous tests of empirical validity previously published for the VSP-A were replicated for the VSP-A12, including comparisons between groups known to differ in terms of gender, age or health status. All the significant results shown by the VSP-A index were also encountered by the VSP-A12 summary measure. The ability of VSP-A12 to discriminate between healthy and ill adolescents was also proven. A test-retest correlation (4 weeks) of 0.745 was observed for the 12-item HRQL index in the target population (n = 664). Average score for this shorter index closely mirrored VSP-A index, although standard deviation was always greater for the VSP-A12.

[Mandatory disclosure and infectious disease. From "pestilential" disease to "emerging" diseases]. / Déclaration obligatoire des maladies infectieuses. Des maladies "pestilentielles" aux maladies "émergentes".

Due to the recent overhaul of the procedure on mandatory disclosure of infectious diseases (law relating to the reinforcement of sanitation quality control established in July 1998, and the May 1999 and May 2001 decrees on the application of this law), wishing to take advantage of this opportunity, the authors propose a chronological review retracing the history of these legal declarations. For over a century, they have represented the main instrument used for intervention and surveillance allowing for the fight against infectious diseases. The health options kept have varied over the years, as well as the precautions taken to respect secrecy (nominative or anonymous disclosure, modalities of transmission...). Procedures adopted to reconcile the principle of confidentiality along with the necessity to protect public health in the case where it would require an immediate and urgent intervention are examined throughout the chronology (determining the source of contamination, prevention of contagion).

Health-related quality of life reported by French adolescents: a predictive approach of health status?

PURPOSE: To examine the relevance of a self-administered multidimensional instrument to the discrimination of illness and health among adolescents in South-eastern France. METHODS: We show the results of a self-reported HRQL assessment by the Vécu et Santé Perçue de l'Adolescent (VSP-A) multidimensional questionnaire, conducted on a population of 3061 adolescents. The VSP-A produces a score for each of the seven dimensions (relationships with friends, relationships with parents, school life, inaction, psychological distress, future, and energy/vitality) and a global score. The result is compared with the answers of the parents to the same multidimensional HRQL questionnaire reworded for them (VSP-P) and to the perceived health self-reported by the adolescents on a visual analogue scale (VAS). The adolescents filled both the VSP-A and VAS questionnaires twice at a 1-month interval. RESULTS: A total of 2941 adolescents completed the questionnaire correctly, and 1760 VSP-P questionnaires were filled out by their parents. The global HRQL score as well as the dimension scores from the parents' assessment were significantly different from those of the adolescents. At the inception, using three approaches (self-reported VAS, VSP-A, and VSP-P), it was possible to discriminate between ill and healthy adolescents. Nevertheless, the VSP-A completed at the inception is the only of the three approaches that can point out the adolescents who will become ill during the following month. Furthermore, the results reported by VSP-A largely agree with literature. CONCLUSION: The VSP-A could provide a comprehensive approach of HRQL of young people in both health prevention and the health care system.