Objectives:

The aim of the study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI).

Methods:

The CDLQI is a 10 item dermatology specific-index developed originally in English. Using a standard “forward-backward” translation procedure, the English language version of the questionnaire was translated into Turkish language by four bilinguals. One hundred and fifty four children with skin problems and 58 children with problems unrelated to the skin completed both the Turkish CDLQI and the Turkish KINDL® questionnaires. Internal consistency was tested using the Cronbach a value. KINDL® was used in parallel with CDLQI in order to test convergent validity.

Results:

One hundred and fifty four children with skin problems (65 boys and 89 girls; mean age 11.83 years) and 58 children with problems unrelated to the skin (25 boys and 33 girls; mean age 11.20 years) completed both the Turkish CDLQI and the Turkish KINDL® questionnaires. The reliability of the Turkish CDLQI questionnaire was obtained by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (a = 0.82). There were no statistically significant differences in the subscales and total CDLQI scores according to the gender (Student’s t-test, p>0.05). There was no correlation of the subscales and total CDLQI with age (Pearson correlation test, p>0.05). The total score of CDLQI was found to be related to all seven subscales of the KINDL® with negative correlation. The total score of KINDL® was found to be related to all subscales (except “treatment” subscale) of the CDLQI with negative correlation.

Conclusion:

The results of this study have demonstrated that the translated version of CDLQI is reliable and valid, and therefore available to measure the quality of life in Turkish children with skin diseases.

Keywords: quality of life, children, children’s dermatology life quality index