Aims: Since some cancer survivors have been found to be at an increased risk for later psychological maladjustment [1], it is important to develop assessment tools to screen for such individuals. However, there remains a lack of screening tools available to screen for problems among youth samples. The purpose of study was to investigate the usefulness of the PedsQL in identifying youth in need of clinical attention.
Methods: Participants included mothers of childhood cancer survivors aged 8 to 18 from the Long-Term Follow-Up Clinic, Korea. 118 mothers completed the 120-item Korean CBCL, a standardized parent-report tool that assesses youth behavioral and emotional problems. They also completed the 23-item PedsQL, a parent-report tool measuring youth health-related quality of life. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis is applied to examine the assessment precision of the PedsQL relative to the K-CBCL.
Results: AUC values associated with the PedsQL Total score were .810, .867, .898 with respect to identifying problem related to internalizing, externalizing, and overall problems, respectively. A PedsQL score of 70 yielded sensitivity of 78% and specificity of 75% with respect to identifying internalizing problems, sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 76% with respect to externalizing problems, and 75 yielded sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 66% with respect to identifying youth with overall problems. These results demonstrate good diagnostic utility associated with the PedsQL relative to the CBCL with respect to identifying youth with internalizing/externalizing problems.
Conclusion: Result suggests that PedsQL can be useful in identifying youth in need of further psychological services. The survivor whose mother reports lower than 70 point needs further psychological assessment. Particularly given the brevity of the PedsQL relative to the CBCL, the PedsQL may be useful in clinical settings to identify youth in need of more clinical attention in ways that minimize assessment burden on clients.