Reproducibility, construct validity, and responsiveness of the "How Are You?" (HAY), a self-report quality of life questionnaire for children with asthma

This study assesses the reproducibility, construct validity, and responsive ness of a new self-report quality of life questionnaire, the "How Are You!" (HAY), for 8-12-year-old children with asthma, which contains both a gener ic and adisease-specific part. Two hundred twenty-eight children with asthm a completed the HAY and the Child Attitude Toward Illness Scale (CATIS), wh ile their parents monitored the actual asthma status; 80 children were meas ured three times in order to assess reproducibility and responsiveness; 296 healthy children completed the generic section of the HAY. Significant dif ferences were found between children with asthma and healthy children, and among asthmatic children differing in actual asthma status. Reproducibility was adequate and supportive evidence was found for construct validity. Res ponsiveness was dem onstrated by significant score changes for most dimensi ons in clinically changed children. The HAY seems useful for both discrimin ative and evaluative research in children with asthma.