Content validity of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Sleep Disturbance and Sleep Related Impairment item banks in adolescents

BACKGROUND Sleep problems are common in adolescents and can have a negative impact on daily functioning and quality of life; therefore recognition of sleep problems is important. The PROMIS (Patient-Reported Outcomes Information System) Sleep Disturbance (SD) and Sleep Related Impairment (SRI) items banks are internationally used, well-validated instruments developed for and tested in adults. This study evaluates the content validity of the self- and proxy versions of the PROMIS-SD and the PROMIS-SRI in adolescents. METHODS Experts (n = 6), adolescents (n = 24, 12-18 years) and their parents (n = 7) commented on the relevance and comprehensibility of the item banks. RESULTS Experts considered all items relevant, only a few items were found irrelevant by adolescents and parents. The majority of items were comprehensible. The ability of parents to report on their adolescent's sleep was limited. CONCLUSION The PROMIS-SD and PROMIS-SRI have adequate content validity in adolescents. Considering their psychometric robustness and the possibility of Computerized Adaptive Testing, which is efficient as well as patient-friendly, these item banks could prove very useful in the evaluation of adolescent sleep. The validity of the proxy scales, however, is limited considering the difficulties reported by the parents. Further psychometric evaluation of these scales in adolescents is required.