Validity and Reliability of the Amharic CDLQI for Evaluating Quality of Life in Ethiopian Atopic Dermatitis Patients

Abstract

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease that substantially impacts healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL) in people of all ages. However, its impact is substantially high in children. The Cardiff Child Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) is one of  the most well-known dermatologyspecific instruments to measure HRQoL of children suffering from skin diseases. The tool has been translated into 44 languages in 28 countries to measure the effects of more than 14 skin conditions, including AD. However, the Amharic  version of CDLQI tool has not yet been validated. Thus, the objective of this study was to validate the Amharic version of the CDLQI tool  for AD patients in Ethiopia. A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 200 children (5 - 16 years) with confirmed AD  were interviewed. Bartlett’s (BS) test of sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy were used to  ascertain the appropriateness of the data for factor analysis. Pearson correlation matrix, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and  Cronbach’s alpha test were performed to assess convergent validity, construct validity and internal consistency of the tool, respectively.  The Minimum Discrepancy Function divided by Degrees of Freedom (CMIN/DF) was 4.7 indicating a reasonable fit of the model. The comparative fit index (CFI) was 0.935 indicating good fit of the model. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.87 showing a good internal  consistency between the 10 items in the tool. Inter-item correlation coefficients ranged from 0.15 and 0.715. The overall finding  demonstrated that the Amharic version of CDLQI tool was a reliable and valid tool to assess the quality of life for children diagnosed with  AD in Ethiopia. Further cultural validation and feasibility studies are recommended among patients with other conditions.