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Background: There is increasing interest in the validation of pediatric preference-based health-related quality of life measurement instruments. It is critical that children with various degrees of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) impact are included in validation studies. To inform patient sample selection for validation studies from a pragmatic perspective, this study explored HRQoL impairments between known-groups and HRQoL changes over time across 27 common chronic child health conditions and identified conditions with the largest impact on HRQoL. Methods: The health dimensions of two common preference-based HRQoL measures, the EQ-5D-Y and CHU9D, were constructed using Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory items that overlap conceptually. Data was from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a nationally representative sample with over 10,000 children at baseline. Seven waves of data were included for the analysis, with child age ranging from 2 to18 years. Impacts to specific health dimensions and overall HRQoL between those having a specific condition versus not were compared using linear mixed effects models. HRQoL changes over time were obtained by calculating the HRQoL differences between two consecutive time points, grouped by "Improved" and "Worsened" health status. Comparison among various health conditions and different age groups (2–4 years, 5–12 years and 13–18 years) were made. Results: Conditions with the largest statistically significant total HRQoL impairments of having a specific condition compared with not having the condition were recurrent chest pain, autism, epilepsy, anxiety/depression, irritable bowel, recurrent back pain, recurrent abdominal pain, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for the total sample (2–18 years). Conditions with largest HRQoL improvement over time were anxiety/depression, ADHD, autism, bone/joint/muscle problem, recurrent abdominal pain, recurrent pain in other part, frequent headache, diarrhea and day-wetting. The dimensions included in EQ-5D-Y and CHU9D can generally reflect HRQoL differences and changes. The HRQoL impacts to specific health dimensions differed by condition in the expected direction. The conditions with largest HRQoL impacts differed by age group. Conclusions: The conditions with largest HRQoL impact were identified. This information is likely to be valuable for recruiting patient samples when validating pediatric preference-based HRQoL instruments pragmatically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Daytime sleepiness is highly prevalent across the globe. The Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) is the most widely used tool for screening daytime sleepiness. The psychometric properties of the ESS have not been comprehensively examined in African populations.Material and Methods: A cross-sectional design with simple random sampling was used in the present study. The study recruited 600 students from Mizan-Tepi University, Ethiopia, of which 329 (age = 18-28 years and body mass index = 21.19 ± 3.17 kg/m2) completed the study. ESS, a semi-structured socio-demographics questionnaire and a clinical interview to diagnose insomnia according to the International Classification of Sleep Disorders were employed.Results: All except one item of the ESS showed a floor effect, while only one item score showed ceiling effect. However, no ceiling/floor effect was observed in the ESS total score. The Cronbach's alpha (0.75) and composite reliability (0.75), indicated good internal consistency, while a moderate item-total score correlation (r = 0.55-0.67) implied favorable internal homogeneity. The known-group validity was established by significantly higher scores for all the ESS item scores and the ESS total scores among those with symptoms of insomnia than among non-symptomatic students. Fit indices along with the consideration of inter-factor correlation coefficient, measures of item retention favored the unidimensional structure of the ESS.Conclusion: The ESS has excellent psychometric validity for screening daytime sleepiness in Ethiopian university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]