A study of concordance between adolescent self-report and parent-proxy report of health-related quality of life in school-going adolescents

Abstract Objectives The purpose of the study was to determine the degree of concordance between the self-report and the parent's proxy report of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in school-going adolescents using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF instrument in India. Methods Twenty schools were purposively selected out of the 1900 schools in Lucknow, India. About 5% adolescents (between 10–19 years) per school were randomly selected by lottery system. Subjects, whose parents consented for child's participation, completed the WHOQOL-BREF self-report and their parents filled the WHOQOL-BREF proxy-report for adolescent's HRQoL. Degree of concordance and association were assessed using Cohen's κ and Spearman's correlation, respectively. Results Five hundred fifteen adolescents (mean age=14 years with a standard deviation of ±2 years; 48.2% females) were included. κ Statistic values ranged from fair to moderate for all facets and dimensions of HRQoL between adolescent and parent report (κ=0.31–0.58, P