Background
There is a worldwide increase in the incidence of type 1
diabetes [1]. It affects approximately 1 in every 400-600
children and adolescents [2]. Childhood diabetes
adversely affects health related quality of life (HRQOL)
of the patients and their families. Diabetes imposes
restrictions on physical, emotional and social functioning
of children and adolescents. One of the international
tools for assessment of HRQOL of children is the Pediatric
Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). This instrument
provides both child self-report and parent proxy-report.
The generic form of this questionnaire has been widely
used in many countries and it has shown acceptable
psychometric properties among children and their parents
[3-9]. Moreover, the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core
Scales and the PedsQL™ 3.0 Diabetes Module have
been used to measure the quality of life (QOL) in children
with diabetes, having good reliability and validity
[10-14]. Although, the feasibility of the Persian version
of the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales has recently
been approved among the general population and in
children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) [15,16], the psychometric properties of this
questionnaire are still unknown in Iranian children with
other chronic diseases. Measuring quality of life inIranian children and adolescents with diabetes and
assessment of reliability and validity of the Persian version
of the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales and the
PedsQL™ 3.0 Diabetes Module are the main goals of
this study.