Validation of the PedsQL Epilepsy Module: A pediatric epilepsy-specific health-related quality of life measure

Objective: To validate a brief and reliable epilepsy-specific, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measure in children with various seizure types, treatments, and demographic characteristics.

Methods: This national validation study was conducted across five epilepsy centers in the United States. Youth 5-18 years and caregivers of youth 2-18 years diagnosed with epilepsy completed the PedsQL Epilepsy Module and additional questionnaires to establish reliability and validity of the epilepsy-specific HRQOL instrument. Demographic and medical data were collected through chart reviews. Factor analysis was conducted, and internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas), test-retest reliability, and construct validity were assessed.

Results: Questionnaires were analyzed from 430 children with epilepsy (M_age = 9.9 years; range 2-18 years; 46% female; 62% white: non-Hispanic; 76% monotherapy, 54% active seizures) and their caregivers. The final PedsQL Epilepsy Module is a 29-item measure with five subscales (i.e., Impact, Cognitive, Sleep, Executive Functioning, and Mood/Behavior) with parallel child and caregiver reports. Internal consistency coefficients ranged from 0.70-0.94. Construct validity and convergence was demonstrated in several ways, including strong relationships with seizure outcomes, antiepileptic drug (AED) side effects, and well-established measures of executive, cognitive, and emotional/behavioral functioning.

Significance: The PedsQL Epilepsy Module is a reliable measure of HRQOL with strong evidence of its validity across the epilepsy spectrum in both clinical and research settings.