Working with children to develop dimensions for a preference-based, generic, pediatric, health-related quality-of-life measure

Use of preference-based measures (PBM) of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is increasing. PBMs allow the calculation of quality-adjusted life years, which can be used in decision making. Research in the field of pediatric PBMs is lacking. This work is the first stage in the development of a new generic, pediatric PBM of HRQoL. Seventy-four qualitative interviews were undertaken with children to find out how health affects their lives. Sampling was purposive, balancing primarily for health within age, with gender and ethnicity as secondary criteria. Interviews covered a wide range of health conditions, and children were successfully able to articulate how their health affected their lives. Eleven dimensions of HRQoL were identified, covering social, emotional, and physical aspects, in common with other generic pediatric HRQoL measures, but differ by including feeling jeal'ous and feeling tired/weak and not including dimensions related to parental, family, or behavioral issues.