THE PERCEPTION OF PROCEDURES QUESTIONNAIRE - PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF A BRIEF PARENT REPORT MEASURE OF PROCEDURAL DISTRESS

Reported the reliability and validity of the Perception of Procedures questionnaire (PPQ), a 19-item parent-report measure developed to asse ss child and parent distress related to lumbar punctures and bone marr ow aspirates in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer PPQ da ta from 140 mothers and 96 fathers of children and adolescents with le ukemia in a first remission were analyzed separately Factor analyses y ielded five factors for mothers and fathers: Parent Satisfaction; Chil d Distress: During; Child Distress: Before; Parent Distress; and Paren t Involvement. internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was high for th e total score and the five factor scores as were interrater reliabilit ies between mothers and fathers. Validity was determined using the Par enting Stress Index-Short Form, the Pediatric Oncology Quality of Life Scale, and parent and nurse ratings during procedures, Factors 2 and 3, assessing child distress, show strong associations with the validat ion measures and support the distinction between distress before and d uring procedures, This developing scale is recommended for use in the assessment and evaluation of child and parent procedure-related distre ss in pediatric oncology.