Development and validation of the Child Activity Limitations Interview: a measure of pain-related functional impairment in school-age children and adolescents

Recurrent pain in childhood are common and frequently impact children's everyday functioning. However, there are currently limited tools available to measure the impact of recurrent pain on children's daily activities, in particular, that can be used to identify appropriate targets for intervention and measure response to such interventions. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a new measure, the Child Activity Limitations Interview (CALI), to improve the assessment of functional impairment due to recurrent pain in school-age children and adolescents, and to compare this measure to the Functional Disability Inventory. Participants included 189 children, aged 8–16 years ( M=12.4, SD 2.5), 60% female, 40% minority, who were part of a longitudinal study of recurrent pain in children with headaches, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and sickle cell disease. Measures of socio-demographics, pain, anxiety and depression, and functional disability were completed. A subset of participants (47%) were re-administered the CALI 1 month later and completed prospective ratings of pain and activity limitations using the CALI in daily diaries. Internal consistency of the CALI was excellent ( α=0.88, child version; α=0.95, parent version). One-month test–retest reliability ( r=0.33, child report) and cross-informant reliability ( r=0.43) were moderate. Results demonstrate support for face, construct, and concurrent validity as well as responsiveness to pain symptom fluctuation. Findings demonstrate that the CALI is a promising measure for assessing and monitoring subjective report of functional impairment in school-age children and adolescents with recurrent and chronic pain.