Psychometric properties of the Ukrainian version of the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ)

Background: The objective of this study was to develop and validate the Ukrainian version of the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) in sick by juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) children. Methods: The Ukrainian version of the CHAQ was fully cross-culturally adapted from the original American-English version with 3 forward and 3 backward translations. The CHAQ has been validated in a cross-sectional study in 55 patients with and 30 healthy children. Results: The results were characterized by a high level of internal consistency and good reliability (the Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.86 for 8/8 domains). The constructive validity was considered by the correlation of the CHAQ scales with each other. For the discriminant validity correlation of the domains and the disability index with the evaluation of pain was significant. The convergent validity was confirmed by correlation of the CHAQ and the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) physical summary score. The divergent validity was confirmed because there was no correlation between the CHAQ items and the CHQ psychosocial summary score. The discovered correlations between disability index and morning stiffness, number of active joints, number of joints with limited range of motion, number of joints with pain, number of swollen joints, Ritchie articular index, DAS, DAS28, SDAI, and CDAI have confirmed the external validity of the CHAQ. Sensitivity of the CHAQ to minimal changes of joints functions in patients with JIA also has been proven. Conclusions: The Ukrainian version of the CHAQ is a reliable, valid, and sensitive tool for the functional assessment of children with JIA.