Development and Preliminary Reproducibility and Validity of the Parent Adherence Report Questionnaire: A Measure of Adherence in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

• Published in: Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings 2005-03, Vol.12 (1), p.1-12
• Main Authors: De Civita, Mirella, Dobkin, Patricia L., Ehrmann-Feldman, Debbie, Karp, Igor, Duffy, Ciarán M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arthritis; Caregivers; Questionnaires; Reproducibility; Validity
• ISSN: 1068-9583; 1573-3572
• DOI: 10.1007/s10880-005-0907-y

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Parent Adherence Report Questionnaire, a measure of adherence to treatment recommendations in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Forty-one primary caregivers of children with JIA (age 1.5 to 18 years) completed a series of measures over a 3-month period. Demographic and disease-related information were obtained at baseline. To measure adherence, caregivers completed bi-weekly diaries on treatment adherence, the general adherence scale (GAS) monthly, and the PARQ at the end of 3 months. The PARQ was reassessed 2 weeks later. Medical charts were reviewed to compare bi-weekly diary reports to actual prescriptions. Intraclass correlation coefficients and kappa coefficients used to assess reproducibility indicated moderate to substantial levels of agreement for PARQ items across time. Construct validity was supported through: (1) significant correlations between the GAS and the PARQ for both exercise and medication; (2) fair agreement between the PARQ-medication and diary reports on medication-related behaviors, and (3) a significant positive correlation between the PARQ-exercise and diary reports on exercise-related behaviors. The study provides preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of the PARQ.