Validity of the Aboriginal Children’s Health and Well-being Measure: Aaniish Naa Gegii?

Paired ACHWM and Ped sQL scores were available for 48 participants. They had a mean age of 14.6 (range of 7 to 19) years and 60.4 % were girls. The Pearson’s correlation between the total ACHWM score and a total PedsQL aggregate score was 0.52 (p = 0.0001). The correlations with the Physical Health Summary Scores and the Psychosocial Health Summary Scores were slightly lower range ( r = 0.35 p = 0.016; and r = 0.51 p = 0.0002respectively) and approached the expected range. The ACHWM Quadrant scores were moderately correlated with the parallel PedsQL domains ranging from r = 0.45 tor = 0.64 (p ≤ 0.001). The Spiritual Quadrant of the ACHWM did not have a parallel domain in the PedsQL.

These results establish the validity of the ACHWM. The children gave this measure an Ojibway name, Aaniish Naa Genii, meaning “how are you?”. This measure is now ready for implementation and will contribute to a better understanding of the health of Aboriginal children.