Children's Perceptions of Healthcare Survey

Abstract

Few validated pediatric tools exist to directly gather data about children's perceptions of their own healthcare; parent surveys are typically used as proxies. A psychometrically sound, child-focused survey captures children's unique perceptions for quality improvement.

This study developed and evaluated reliability of a survey, assessed score differences by children's age, and compared the responses of children and parents.

The Children's Perceptions of Healthcare Survey was developed for inpatient and outpatient quality improvement. Following expert review, the tool was administered to 237 parent-child dyads at the time of discharge from an inpatient pediatric unit (n = 121) and after outpatient clinic visits (n = 116). Responses were analyzed and compared.

Internal consistency reliability for the tool was high (child/adolescents: α = .84; parents: α = .86), with no significant differences by child age or child gender. Parent and child scores were significantly correlated (r = 0.29, P < .001). About half of parents' scores were higher than their children's scores.

This tool worked well to collect data from a wide age range of children across healthcare settings. Children's perceptions were unique; involving children in care assessment is worthwhile and captures insights missed when only parents are surveyed. The Children's Perceptions of Healthcare Survey is a valid, psychometrically sound tool to capture children's unique perspectives regarding their healthcare and may be useful for system quality improvement.