ABSTRACT

The Impact of Childhood Neurological Disability Scale (ICNDS) was developed by Carol Camfield in 1999. The assessment evaluates the effects of various conditions on overall health, relationships, social life, academic success, the child’s self-esteem, hopes for the child and caregiver, and family activities in children with epilepsy. At the end of the assessment, a visual scale is provided to orally score quality of life between 1 (very poor) and 6 (excellent). The aim of this study was to translate and adjust the ICNDS scale for use in Turkey, and to ensure the validity and reliability of the tool.

The scale was translated into Turkish using the appropriate translation methods. Internal structure consistency and test-retest reliability were measured. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated for all of the subscales, and scale and item-total correlations were determined. Test-retest reliability was assessed statistically using the Pearson correlation test for validity. The demographic data of 80 young patients with epilepsy were recorded. The scale was administered twice.

A total of 28 girls (35%) and 52 boys (65%) were included in the study. The mean age was 6.94±1.45 years, and the mean birth weight was 3049±520 g. A 95% confidence interval for Cronbach’s coefficient alpha ranged from 0.973 to 0.989 in the different sections of the tool, and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.983 (r=0.966; p=0.000).

The Turkish version of the ICNDS is a valid and reliable measurement to assess the impact of epilepsy in children.

Keywords: Impact of Childhood Disability Scale, validation