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Inspection of Medical Students' Quality of Life in An Unstable Nation, Yemen: Is WHOQOL‐BREF Still Valid and Reliable?
Author(s) -
Ba Abbad Abdulrahman Ali,
Alaidroos Hussien Abdullah,
Bawazir Ahmed,
AlGunaid Mohammed Abdulrahman,
AlGhurabi Mohammed Omar,
Abdulwali Fareeha Kaiser,
Obad Adam Subait,
Shareef Mohammad Abrar
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.576.49
Subject(s) - cronbach's alpha , arabic , quality of life (healthcare) , confirmatory factor analysis , reliability (semiconductor) , psychology , construct validity , clinical psychology , validity , internal consistency , medicine , family medicine , psychometrics , structural equation modeling , statistics , mathematics , linguistics , philosophy , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics , psychotherapist
The World Health Organization Quality Of Life‐BREF (WHOQOL‐BREF) questionnaire has been widely used and extensively validated in different languages. While it has been shown to be a valid and reliable gauge among medical students in many stable countries, its validity and reliability among medical students in an unstable country was not yet assessed. Hence, the aim of this study was to validate the questionnaire among Yemeni medical students and assess their quality of life. Methods An anonymous, self‐administered and previously validated Arabic version of the WHOQOL‐BREF questionnaire was distributed among medical students of Hadramount medical college, Yemen. Confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha were used to assess the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, respectively. Quality of life scores were calculated and reported following the WHO manual of the questionnaire. Results A total of 416 responses were retrieved and subjected to analysis. After excluding questions 3, 4, and 21 the questionnaire showed good validity with the least loading factor value of 0.37 when four‐factor priori model is adopted. Additionally, the instrument has demonstrated an excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α 0.891). Mean scores in physical, psychological, social and environmental domains were 13.51, 14.29, 14.65, and 12.23, respectively. Conclusion The Arabic version of the questionnaire was valid and reliable to assess the quality of life among medical students in Hadramout medical college. The instrument has detected low overall score and low scores in physical, psychological, social, and environmental aspects of life in comparison to previous studies in stable countries. Therefore, necessary support is required to enhance their quality of life and additional studies are required to postulate and implement solutions. Support or Funding Information We would like to thank Hadramout University, faculty and students for their support and help in completing this study. Special thanks to our 4th year colleagues in Hadramout University, College of Medicine : 1) Muhammad Salah Al‐Qu'aiti, 2) Abdullah Salem Bahadi, 3) Ashraf Fahed Basalelah.