Assessing child quality of life impairments following pediatric burn injuries: Rasch analysis of the children's dermatology life quality index

There is a need for a brief, validated measure of quality of life (QOL) for children to monitor their adjustment to burn injuries. We aimed to apply a Rasch analysis to an existing measure of QOL from the dermatology literature to a clinical sample of pediatric burn patients. The Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) was administered to pediatric burn patients (N = 253) during a standard clinic visit. Rasch analysis was used to examine psychometric properties of this measure with a burn sample. The CDLQI showed an adequate fit to the Rasch model. Test difficulty is .61 logits greater than person ability. Results of item reliability and separation analyses were sufficiently strong and indicated a unidimensional latent trait. Person reliability (.74) and separation analyses (1.64) were moderate. Finally, the CDLQI was able to moderately separate the group of respondents into low and high levels of QOL impairments related to burn injuries. The Rasch model demonstrated that the CDLQI is a reliable and valid scale that adequately measures QOL impairments in children following burn injuries.