16D

Generic measure

Measure Domains: Mobility, vision, hearing, breathing, sleeping, eating, speech, elimination, usual activities (school/hobbies), friends, physical appearance, mental function, discomfort and symptoms, depression, stress, vitality.

Summary of development: 15D was developed for adults.  The 15D was revised for adolescents ages 12-15 that resulted in the 16D (Apajasalo 1996a). This revision was guided by specialists’ and adolescents’ input (both school children and children will health conditions).  There was then a second revision for children ages 8-11, resulting in the 17D (Apajasalo 1996b).   This revision was guided by specialists’ and parent’s input.

The overall score is based on valuations using visual analog scales.  The 16D scoring is based on values obtained from school children age 12-15. The 17D scoring is based on values obtained from parents of children age 8-11.  It is important to note that health utility scales that are made in the econometric tradition, such as the 16D and 17D, do not necessarily need psychometric testing such as internal consistency or structural validity.  For these measures, other types of validity such as known groups validity and convergent validity may be useful.

There are no published tests of the English versions of these questionnaires as they were originally developed in Finnish.