The relationship between the Pediatric Outcomes Data Collec-tion Instrument and functional impairment in developmentally delayed Chinese children and their parents’ health: implications for child and family-centered medicine

Objective: To examine the relationship between the Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument (PODCI) and functional impairment in Chinese children with developmental delays and between PODCI and their parents’ health

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 49 parents of 35 male and 14 female Chinese children with developmental delays and 49 parents of age- and gender-matched children with normal development were recruited. PODCI was used for health evaluation in children with developmental delays and normal development. Assessment tools for parents’ health in children with developmental delays included the World Health Organization-Quality of Life-Brief Version for HRQOL, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale for psychological distress and the Impact on Family Scale for family function. The Pearson correlation test was used to assess the relationship of PODCI with functional impairment (including gross motor, fine motor, speech/language, cognitive, behavioral /psychosocial and global delays) of children with delayed development and their parents’ health.

Results: Except for domains of pain/comfort and/or happiness, scores of PODCI negatively related to all subtypes of functional impairment in children with developmental delays. Except for the domain of pain/comfort, the higher scores in PODCI, the greater parental HRQOL, lower psychological distress and better family function in parents of children with developmental delays.

Conclusions: Except for the psychological component, most domains of PODCI related to the functional impairment in children with developmental delays and their parents’ HRQOL, psychological distress and family function. This result supports the application of PODCI for health assessment in Chinese children with developmental delays.