The Child Health Questionnaire in Australia: Reliability, validity and population means

Objective: To provide reliability, validity and population means for the Australian Authorised Adaptation of the parent-report Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ). Method: We surveyed a representative sample of Australian parents of school-aged children (5-18 years) in Victoria between July and December 1997, using a school-based cluster sample design stratified by educational sector and age. Results: Some 5,414 parents responded (72%). Good psychometric performance was observed for the CHQ in Australia. Population means demonstrated differences in health on domains of functioning and well-being by age and gender. This population-derived sample demonstrated high ceiling values on Physical Functioning and Social Role scales. Implications: The CHQ appears to be a reliable and valid measure of child and adolescent functional health and wellbeing for the Australian population. Child health outcomes of children and adolescents with particular conditions or within population subgroups can be compared with these age and gender benchmarks. Appropriate uses for the CHQ may be to discriminate between children who are generally healthy and children with health problems, or in population surveys partnered with measures that extend the range of physical functioning and social functioning.