Preliminary reliability and validity of the PedsQL™ Family Impact Module in parents of children with congenital muscular dystrophy.

Purpose: This study examines the preliminary reliability and validity of the PedsQL™ Family Impact Module (PedsQL™ FIM) in parents of children with congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD). Methods: The participants in this study were 28 parents of children with CMD and 39 parents of unaffected children. Both groups of parents completed the PedsQL™ FIM and a demographic information form. Cronbach's alpha was used to examine the internal consistency reliability, and the known-groups method was used to assess construct validity. Three distinct models were used to estimate the mean score differences of the PedsQL™ FIM between the two groups: an unadjusted model, a multivariate regression model, and propensity score matching with inverse probability of treatment weighting. Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficients for all scales exceeded 0.70, supporting evidence for the internal consistency reliability of the PedsQL™ FIM. The construct validity of the PedsQL™ FIM demonstrated that the mean differences between the CMD and unaffected groups were significantly different (p <.05). This indicated that the instrument could discriminate between the two groups. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrated the good preliminary reliability and validity of the PedsQL™ FIM in assessing parental health-related quality of life and family functioning of children with CMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]