292. Developing Barriers and Facilitators to Physical Activity Questionnaire in Children with Juvenile Arthritis

Abstract

Background: Physical activity (PA) is known to be reduced in children with JIA compared with healthy peers. In order to assess the influences on physical activity, a process of identifying specific barriers within this cohort was undertaken The aim was to develop a questionnaire to assess barriers and facilitators to physical activity in school-age children with juvenile arthritis Methods: A literature review of the existing body of knowledge was conducted in addition to a semi-structured interview with 12 children and their parents to confirm finding of the review. A list of possible 72 barriers and facilitators was shared with health professionals for validation. A postal survey of children and families was used to reduce this to 15 barriers and 15 facilitators. The final draft was tested on a group of 42 children with JIA attending an outpatient department for inter-item agreement and thematic agreement. Results: The major factor inhibiting physical activity identified by children and their families was pain, feeling unwell or tiredness (Table 1). Cronbachs alpha was k=0.84 for all barriers and k=0.85 for all facilitators indicating substantial agreement among the respondents. There was over 70% agreement among the subjects with regard to facilitators to physical activity. Conclusion: When analysed across themes, access to resources, disease specific barriers and individual characteristics indicated very good agreement between children with JIA. Retest reliability and content validity work is currently underway. (Table Presented).