Development of the Pediatric Scale for Quality of Recovery (PedSQoR).

Summary

Through literature synthesis, Delphi consensus, interviews with patients and families, and psychometric analyses on 1,162 postoperative children, the authors derived a 20‑item Pediatric Scale for Quality of Recovery capturing physical and psychological recovery. The tool was developed with strong stakeholder involvement and demonstrated face/content validity with factor-analytic item reduction.

Key Findings

• A comprehensive review identified 41 instruments and 216 recovery-relevant items; Delphi rounds reduced items to 50.
• Semistructured interviews with patients/families aligned with expert-defined domains, supporting content validity.
• Administration to 1,162 children with factor analysis yielded a final 20-item scale covering physical and psychological domains.

Clinical Implications

Clinicians and researchers can adopt PedSQoR as a standardized endpoint to assess holistic recovery after pediatric anesthesia and surgery, facilitating trial design, benchmarking, and quality improvement.

Limitations

• Further external validation, responsiveness, and MCID determination are needed
• Cross-cultural measurement equivalence and feasibility in diverse clinical workflows not yet established

Future Directions

Validate across languages and cultures, establish responsiveness and MCID, and integrate digital administration to support routine perioperative quality monitoring.