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Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy (QOLCE-55)
Availability
The measure is freely available and can be accessed online at:
Classification
Supplemental – Highly Recommended: Epilepsy (for pediatric quality of life studies)
Short Description of Instrument
The Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy (QOLCE-55) Questionnaire is a parent-completed 55-item instrument that measures four dimensions of quality of life: Cognitive (22 items), Emotional (17 items), Social (7 items), and Physical (9 items). For Cognitive, Social, and Physical domains, parents respond to items about how often their child displayed the described behavior on 5-point scales (Very Often, Fairly Often, Sometimes, Almost Never, and Never) during the past 4 weeks. For the Emotional domain, parents respond to how much of the time that their child displayed the described emotions on 5-point scales (All the time, Most of the time, Some of the time, A little of the time, and None of the time) during the past 4 weeks. Parents are also able to respond with Not Applicable for all items. The total score ranges between 0 and 100 with a higher score reflecting a higher well-being. Time required to complete the scale is approximately 12-14 minutes.
Scoring
Scoring instructions and relevant publications on its development are also included on the Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE-55) website.
Psychometric Properties
The four dimensions were confirmed by factor analysis. Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha) for the four dimensions and total scale were: Cognitive (.97), Emotional (.88), Social (.89), Physical (.82), and Total (.96). Validity was supported when QOLCE-55 subscale scores were strongly correlated with similar subscales and weakly correlated with dissimilar subscales on the Child Health Questionnaire in a sample of children with new-onset epilepsy.
 
Measurement equivalence was demonstrated when a sample of children with new-onset epilepsy was stratified by age (4-7 years vs 8-12 years), sex (male vs. female), and time (diagnosis vs. 24 months later). Support for the factor structure, internal consistency reliability, and validity was also found in a sample of children with drug-resistant epilepsy. Information on test-retest reliability and sensitivity to change have not been reported.
References
Goodwin SW, Lambrinos AI, Ferro MA, Sabaz M, Speechley KN. Development and assessment of a shortened Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE-55). Epilepsia. 2015;56(6):864-872.
 
Conway L, Widjaja E, Smith ML, Speechley KN, Ferro, M. Validating the shortened Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE-55) in a sample of children with drug-resistent epilepsy. Epilepsia. 2017;58(4):646-656.
 
Ferro MA, Goodwin SW, Sabaz M, Speechley KN. (2016). Measurement equivalence of the newly developed Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE-55). Epilepsia. 2016;57(3):427-435.
 
Sabaz M, Cairns D, Lawson J, Nheu N, Bleasel A, Bye A. Validation of a new quality of life measure for children with epilepsy. Epilepsia. 2000;41(6):765-774.
 
Sabaz M, Lawson JA, Cairns DR, Duchowny MS, Resnick TJ, Dean PM, Bye AM. Validation of the quality of life in childhood epilepsy questionnaire in American epilepsy patients. Epilepsy Behav. 2003;4(6):680-691.

 

Document last updated February 2018