Development of an Adolescent Health Status Measure. Abstract, Executive Summary,Final Report and Appendices A and D

摘要

The purpose of the project was to develop a comprehensive health status measurefor self-administration by adolescents. The specific aims were to assess the internal consistency reliability of the subdomains and domains that were developed in preliminary studies and to assess the construct validity of the instrument using a concurrent design in representative smaples of adolescents in schools and clinic facilities. The project was successful in accomplishing its aims and, in addition, in making available a feasible and protocol tool to assess the health of 11-17 year olds across a comprehensive range of domains on health status. The six domains, each with 2-4 subdomains, address health-related characteristics including what is often referred to as functional status and qulaity of life. They are Discomfort, Disorders, Satisfaction with heatlh, Achievement of Socal Expectations (development appropriate to age), Resiliance, and Risks. These six domains address both negative and positive aspects of health and functioning and reflect both current status as well as prognosis for further health status. The instrument is designed for self-administration in both community settings (such as schools) and clinical settings and has been tested for reliability and validity. Its psychometric properties are described in two publications in peer-reviewed journals. The instrument, know as the Child Health & Illness Profile-Adolescent Edition (CHIP-AE(TM)) is currently being used by several researchers across the country and is in the process of being translated into both French and Spanish.