Resumen de Quality of life in caregivers of children with asthma: Validity and reliability of the IFABI-R questionnaire
Alfredo Cano Garcinuño, Dolors Forns Serrallonga, Isabel Mora Gandarillas, Alberto Bercedo Sanz, M. Callén Blecua, J.A. Castillo Laita, Irene Casares Alonso, E. Tauler, Luz María Alonso Bernardo, Á. García Merino, Isabel Moneo Hernández, Olga Cortés Rico, Ignacio Luis Carvajal Urueña, J. J. Morell Bernabé, Itziar Martín Ibañez, Carmen Rosa Rodríguez Fernández Oliva, Mª T. Asensi Monzó, C. Fernández Carazo, J. Murcia García, C. Durán Iglesias, José Luis Montón Álvarez, Begoña Domínguez Aurrecoechea, Manuel Praena Crespo
Background Parents’/caregivers’ quality of life is an important aspect to consider when handling paediatric asthma, but there is a paucity of valid and reliable instruments to measure it. The Family Impact of Childhood Bronchial Asthma (IFABI-R) is a recently developed questionnaire to facilitate the assessment of asthma-related parents’/caregivers’ quality of life. This study researches the psychometric properties of IFABI-R.
Methods Parents/main caregivers of 462 children between 4 and 14 years of age with active asthma were included in the sample. IFABI-R was administered on two different occasions and a number of other variables related to the parents’/caregivers’ quality of life were measured: child's asthma control, family functioning, and parents’/caregivers’ perception of asthma symptoms in the child. IFABI-R evaluative and discriminative properties were analysed, and the minimal important change in the IFABI-R score was identified.
Results IFABI-R showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.941), cross-sectional construct validity (correlation with the degree of child's asthma control, family functioning and parent/caregiver perception of the child's asthma symptoms), longitudinal construct validity (correlation of changes in the IFABI-R with changes in asthma control and changes in the perception of symptoms), sensitivity to change and test–retest reliability. An absolute change of 0.3 units in IFABI-R related to a minimal significant change in the parents’/caregivers’ quality of life.
Conclusions IFABI-R is a reliable and valid instrument to study the quality of life of parents/caregivers of children with asthma.
