German version of the pediatric incontinence questionnaire for urinary incontinence health related quality of life

Purpose: We translated and cross-culturally adapted the English version of the Pediatric Incontinence Questionnaire, and tested the reliability and validity of the German version. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done at 3 tertiary referral centers for childhood urinary incontinence. The self-reported and proxy English version was translated and cross-culturally adapted. From July 2007 to April 2008 we evaluated the German version in 91 boys and 54 girls with a mean ± SD age of 9.3 ± 2.2 years (range 6 to 18) with nonneurogenic urinary incontinence and in their parents. For concurrent criterion related validity, the German questionnaire scales were compared with those of the DCGM-10/-12. Results: On reliability testing of the self-reported and proxy German versions Cronbach's α was 0.84 and 0.86, respectively. Interrater convergence between the self-reported and proxy versions showed an ICC of 0.81. Reproducibility was satisfactory for the self-reported and proxy versions (ICC 0.77, 95% CI 0.77-0.90 and 0.85, 95% CI 0.67-0.84, respectively). German version scores correlated with DCGM-10/-12 scores (self-report and proxy r = -0.71 and -0.69, respectively). Mean German version total scores were 23.0 in boys and 23.9 in girls. Except for a slight significant association between age and German version total score in the proxy version (p = 0.01), age, sex and incontinence type or severity (number of wet days/nights per 14 days) were not significantly associated with German version total scores. Conclusions: The German version of the Pediatric Incontinence Questionnaire is a valid and reliable outcome measure to assess health related quality of life in children and adolescents with urinary incontinence.