This paper reports psychometric evaluation of the Perceived Illness Experie
nce Scale (PIE). This includes eight sub-scales developed to determine the
impact of a chronic illness from the patient's perspective. The sample incl
uded 34 patients (mean age = 17 years) successfully treated by limb salvage
procedures for a primary bone tumour. Patients also completed measures of
well-being (the SF-36) and function. To determine the relationship between
patient and proxy ratings, mothers also completed the PIE. Evidence of cons
truct validity of the PIE was obtained from significant correlations betwee
n PIE and SF-36 scale scores. There were also significant correlations betw
een function and three of the eight subscales of PIE. Good correlations bet
ween patients' and mothers' ratings suggests that mothers can be useful pro
xy raters where patients are unable to provide data themselves. These data
suggest that evaluations of patients following limb salvage surgery should
not be limited to function measures alone, but need to include assessment o
f the perceived impact of treatment.