QOL-38. WILL ELECTRONIC INTEGRATED TEXT, VISUAL AND AUDIO QUESTIONNAIRE BE A BETTER TOOL TO EVALUATE THE HEALTH STATUS OF PAEDIATRIC HYDROCEPHALUS PATIENTS?

Abstract

Background and aims In general, children with hydrocephalus have a higher incidence of disabilities than the general population. The Electronic Integrated Text, Visual and Audio Questionnaire (EITVAQ) will be designed to be disease‐specific and measure child health status from the child's perspective. It is anticipated to be a reliable test. EITVAQ's outcome is anticipated to be valid and positive, introducing a new, child friendly health measurement tool. Methods This study was carried out in the National Neurosurgical Departments in Ireland accepting paediatric patients from 8 to 16 years. This will be a randomized, single‐blinded, prospective study. All patients (8‐16 years of age) diagnosed with hydrocephalus presenting to neurosurgical departments will be recruited to the study. The study will be conducted for 10 months to assess the feasibility, reliability and validity. Results More hydrocephalus patients completed and preferred the test on EITVAQ compared to text questionnaire. All patients found EITVAQ to be very interactive and engaging. All patients and parents thought the questions were relevant and hope it is used widespread across hydrocephalus patients in order to identify issues of health status, enabling them to access appropriate early intervention and improve their quality of life. Conclusions EITVAQ can be developed into a 'user friendly app' to access quality of life among hydrocephalus patient. Potentially, EITVAQ will be applicable for other children with seizures, head injury and brain tumours. Majority parents and students hope EITVAQ methods can be used as an education tool to allow patients to engage more in education material.