Determination of children's quality of life indicators: Creating clinical measurement tool

Aim: In the study, it was aimed to develop a clinically applicable quality of life scale that can measure the quality of life of hospitalized children. Matherial and Method: The study, which is methodological type with exploratory sequential method and was carried out with children hospitalized in Manisa Celal Bayar University Hafsa Sultan Hospital pediatric clinics between September 2020 and May 2022, consists of three stages. In the first stage, studies that questioned the quality of life of hospitalized children were examined. In the second stage, qualitative interviews were conducted with 18 hospitalized children aiming to question their quality of life. In the third stage, the scale form, which was created as a result of the findings obtained with the first step, was carried out by analyzing the scope validity, face validity, construct validity and reliability, which are the scale development stages. Results: 24 study results included in the systematic review stage consisted of six groups related to disease, mental status, school/friends, social and daily activities, family and home life, and hospital. Qualitative interview phase conducted with 18 children was determined as four themes (illness, hospital, emotions, desires), 13 categories and 18 codes. During the scale development phase, the variance explained by the scale in total was calculated as 51,148% according to the Exploratory Factor Analysis, and a five-factor structure (illness, fear, activity, hospital, perception) consisting of seventeen items was obtained. As a result of Confirmatory Factor Analysis, it was determined that the scale had acceptable fit values. In order to ensure the reliability of the scale, the internal consistency coefficient was checked and the Cronbach's Alpha value of the scale was found to be 0.757. Conclusion: It was concluded that the scale with 17 items and five factors was developed as a valid and reliable measurement tool to measure the quality of life of hospitalized children. Key words: Hospital, Child, Quality of Life