Norm values for the Generic Children's Quality of Life Measure (GCQ) from a large school-based sample

This study aimed to assess the quality of life of a population sample of schoolchildren. The Generic Children's Quality of Life Measure (GCQ) has been developed to allow comparison between chronically ill children and the general child population. The measure assesses how the child views his or her life and also how they would like it to be. Quality of life is measured as the discrepancy between the two viewpoints. This large community-based survey aimed to establish GCQ norm values for children aged 6-14 years. The children were from a sample of schools stratified by geographical location and social need: rural affluent, rural low affluence, urban affluent and urban low affluence. 720 completed questionnaires were analysed. The scores were normally distributed with a wide range. The GCQ showed an acceptable reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.75. The quality of life score was not correlated with age (r = -0.02, p = 0.64) nor with the deprivation score of the area in which the children lived (r = -0.026, p = 0.49). There were no significant differences between the scores by gender (p = 0.22) nor by rural/urban location (p = 0.60). Normative values were established. The GCQ is suitable for using with children over a large age range (6-14 years) without the scores being confounded by the age, gender, affluence or geographical location.