{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Validation of the Pediatric Narcolepsy Screening Questionnaire (PNSQ): A cross-sectional, observational study.
{Author}: Morris S;Plazzi G;de la Loge C;Marrel A;Profant J;Steininger TL;Lin J;Owens JA;Morris S;Plazzi G;de la Loge C;Marrel A;Profant J;Steininger TL;Lin J;Owens JA;Morris S;Plazzi G;de la Loge C;Marrel A;Profant J;Steininger TL;Lin J;Owens JA;
{Journal}: Sleep Med
{Volume}: 98
{Issue}: 0
{Year}: Oct 2022
{Factor}: 4.842
{DOI}: 10.1016/j.sleep.2022.05.017
{Abstract}: OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated psychometric properties of the Pediatric Narcolepsy Screening Questionnaire (PNSQ), developed in response to the difficulty of identifying pediatric narcolepsy.
METHODS: The initial PNSQ was updated following debriefing interviews with parents of children with suspected/diagnosed narcolepsy. Subsequently, newly recruited caregivers were categorized into groups: clinician-confirmed narcolepsy, other sleep problems (OSP), and no sleep problems (controls). Caregivers completed the 11-item PNSQ assessing narcolepsy symptomatology. PNSQ psychometric properties were evaluated; mean PNSQ Total Score (TS) was compared inter-group using analysis of variance.
RESULTS: The analysis population (N = 158) included patients with narcolepsy (n = 49), OSP (n = 55), and controls (n = 54); mean ± SD age was 13.8 ± 2.8, 10.2 ± 4.3, and 10.0 ± 3.8 years, respectively. Inter-item Pearson correlations (range, 0.22-0.75) indicated good construct validity. Principal component analysis confirmed unidimensionality. Item discriminative power was high for narcolepsy vs control (range, 0.693-0.936) and lower for narcolepsy vs OSP (range, 0.584-0.729). The latent trait was well covered (separation index = 0.868). Item 7 (vivid dreams/nightmares), having low discriminative power and specificity, was removed. Cronbach's alpha (final PNSQ) indicated high internal consistency reliability (raw alpha = 0.88). Mean ± SD PNSQ TS (range, 0-50) in the narcolepsy, OSP, and control groups were 34.98 ± 7.98, 25.20 ± 9.43, and 9.54 ± 9.38, respectively (nominal P < 0.0001). Classification by PNSQ TS was defined: PNSQ+ (likely narcolepsy, TS ≥ 29), PNSQ 0 (likely OSP, TS 19-28), and PNSQ- (narcolepsy unlikely, TS ≤ 18); patients with narcolepsy were classified as PNSQ+ (79.6%), PNSQ 0 (18.4%), and PNSQ- (2.0%).
CONCLUSIONS: The PNSQ demonstrated good psychometric properties and excellent performance discriminating narcolepsy, OSP, and control groups.