Psychometric properties of the Oral Mucositis Daily Questionnaire for child self-report and importance of mucositis in children treated with chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: The objectives of this study were to examine the psychometric properties of the self-report Oral Mucositis Daily Questionnaire (OMDQ) and to measure the importance of mucositis in children receiving intensive chemotherapy.

METHODS

Children ≥ 12 years of age receiving intensive chemotherapy for leukemia/lymphoma or undergoing stem cell transplantation were asked to complete the OMDQ daily for 21 days after chemotherapy. Other measures of mucositis obtained concurrently with OMDQ included the World Health Organization (WHO) mucositis scale, the pain visual analog scale (VAS), and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Esophageal Cancer Sub-scale (FACT-ECS). The importance of mucositis was estimated using a VAS, time trade-off technique, and willingness to pay to avoid mucositis.

RESULTS

Fifteen children participated. Test-retest reliability demonstrated at least moderate correlation for all questions within the OMDQ. Assessment of construct validity of the OMDQ revealed at least moderate correlation with WHO, VAS, and FACT-ECS for questions regarding pain, swallowing, drinking, and eating. Effect on sleeping and talking had lower correlations than that expected a priori. The diarrhea question of the OMDQ did not correlate with other measures of mucositis. Severe mucositis is important to children, while mild mucositis is less important to them. Children were willing to pay moderate amounts of money to prevent mucositis.

CONCLUSIONS

The OMDQ exhibits test-retest reliability, and most questions show construct validity with the exceptions of the sleep, talking, and diarrhea questions. Therefore, the OMDQ should not be used unmodified as a self-report instrument in children with cancer. Severe mucositis is of importance to these children.