Monday, November 3, 2003

This presentation is part of : Adults and Chronic Illness

Comparison of WHOQOL-BREF and SF-36 in Patients with HIV Infection

Ping-Chuan Hsiung, RN, PhD1, Chi-Tai Fang, MD2, Yu-Yin Chang, MS3, Mao-Yen Chen, MD2, and Jung-Der Wang, MD, PhD3. (1) School of Nursing, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, (2) Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, (3) Institute of Occupation Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Learning Objective #1: Understand the strengths and weaknesses of two quality of life instruments (WHOQOL and SF-36)
Learning Objective #2: Understand the quality of life of people with HIV infection

Objective: This study’s aim was to compare the reliability and validity of two quality of life instruments -- the WHOQOL-BREF and the SF-36 -- in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Design: Prospective cohort study in outpatient clinics. Methods: The WHOQOL-BREF and SF-36 were used to assess 206 HIV-infected patients. Self-perceived health status and happiness, number and intensity of HIV-related symptoms, CD4 counts, and the presence of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were used to evaluate the validity of both questionnaires. Results: The internal consistency ranged from 0.75 to 0.86 across domains of the WHOQOL-BREF, and from 0.69 to 0.90 across profiles of the SF-36. There were strong correlations between the scores of the WHOQOL physical domain and SF-36 vitality (r = 0.70), and between the scores of the WHOQOL psychological domain and SF-36 mental health (r = 0.76). The scores of all WHOQOL-BREF domains and SF-36 profiles correlated positively with self-perceived health status (r range: 0.47 ~ 0.63 and 0.43 ~ 0.75, respectively) and happiness (r range: 0.66 ~ 0.77 and 0.32 ~ 0.72), and correlated negatively with the number (r range: -0.43 ~ -0.58 and -0.48 ~ -0.61) and intensity of symptoms (r range: -0.46 ~ -0.62 and -0.45 ~ -0.62). The scores for SF-36 vitality and social functioning discriminated between patients with or without AIDS (both p < 0.05). The scores of WHOQOL-G4 and SF-36 role/physical, general health perceptions, vitality, social functioning and role/emotional discriminated between patients with different levels of CD4 counts (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Both the WHOQOL-BREF and the SF-36 were useful quality-of-life instruments in patients with HIV infection.

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