This project will translate, culturally adapt and validate the Bangla version of the EQ-TIPS instrument to measure health-related quality of life in infants and toddlers in Bangladesh. We will also assess caregiver health using EQ5D instruments to capture the wider family impact.
The need
Children under five account for around 16% of Bangladesh’s population (about 16 million children) and still experience high underfive mortality, at roughly 28.8 deaths per 1,000 live births. However, there is no validated Bangla tool to capture health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in infants and toddlers, so the impact of both routine health issues and more serious conditions on young children and their families is rarely quantified. A validated, culturally appropriate Bangla HRQoL instrument for infants and toddlers is essential to measure outcomes in healthy and ill underfive children and to inform more equitable and evidence-based child health policy.
About
In this project we will first co-develop a Bangla version of the EQ-TIPS through structured translation, back-translation and cognitive debriefing with caregivers. We will then test its psychometric performance in 750 infants and toddlers with and without health conditions across hospital and community settings in Dhaka. Using longitudinal data from children, we will evaluate feasibility, acceptability, reliability, known group validity and responsiveness of EQ-TIPS We will compare the performance of EQ-TIPS with the existing EQ-5D-Y-5L instrument in 2-4 year olds and assess spillover effects on caregivers’ health using the EQ5D5L instrument for adults.
Impact
- Validated Bangla EQ-TIPS for infants and toddlers.
- Robust evidence on measurement properties in a low literacy LMIC context.
- New insights on how early childhood illness affects child and caregiver health.
- Improved data to support child health economic evaluations and HTA in Bangladesh.
- Capacity building and strengthened research partnerships between Deakin University, icddr,b and ARK Foundation.
Partners
Collaborators
Funding
Our funding is pooled from a number of organisations and research funds.
- EuroQol Research Foundation (Regular Research Grant – “Validation of EQTIPS for Bangladeshi Infant and Toddler Populations”)