Patient selection: children from 0 to 12 years of age
The scale is most applicable to community acquired viral respiratory infections.
Measures:
(1) poor appetite
(2) not sleeping well
(3) irritable, cranky, fussy
(4) feels unwell
(5) low energy, tired
(6) not playing well
(7) crying more than usual
(8) needing extra care
(9) clinginess
(10) headache
(11) sore throat
(12) muscle aches or pains
(13) fever
(14) cough
(15) nasal congestion and runny nose
(16) vomiting
(17) not interested in what's going on
(18) unable to get out of bed
where:
• Some items were not applicable to infants: headache, sore throat, muscle aches/pains.
In addition, the parents or caregivers made a mark on a 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS) anchored at the end by "best possible health" and "worst possible health."
|
Response
|
Points
|
|
no problem
|
0
|
|
minor problem
|
1
|
|
moderate problem
|
2
|
|
major problem
|
3
|
|
not applicable or don't know
|
not counted
|
score =
= SUM(points for all answered measures)
If there were any responses of not applicable or not known:
total score =
= (score) / (number of answered questions) * 18
Interpretation:
• minimum total score: 0
• maximum total score: 54
• The higher the score the more problematic the illness.
Performance:
• The score was responsive to change in illness status.
• Cronbach alpha for enrollment assessment was 0.89.
• The intra-rater reliability for mothers on the second day was 0.808.
• The score correlated well with physician and nurse assessments of illness severity.
