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The “ W ound‐ QoL ”: A short questionnaire measuring quality of life in patients with chronic wounds based on three established disease‐specific instruments
Author(s) -
Blome Christine,
Baade Katrin,
Sebastian Debus Eike,
Price Patricia,
Augustin Matthias
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
wound repair and regeneration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.847
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1524-475X
pISSN - 1067-1927
DOI - 10.1111/wrr.12193
Subject(s) - cronbach's alpha , quality of life (healthcare) , medicine , internal consistency , convergent validity , physical therapy , psychometrics , clinical psychology , nursing
The aim of this study was to develop a short questionnaire measuring health‐related quality of life ( HRQoL ) in chronic wounds. Three validated instruments assessing HRQoL in chronic wounds—the F reiburg L ife Q uality A ssessment for wounds, the C ardiff W ound I mpact S chedule, and the W ürzburg W ound S core—were completed by 154 G erman leg ulcer patients in a longitudinal study. For implementation in the new, shorter questionnaire W ound‐ QoL , all of those 92 items that covered the core content of the three questionnaires and showed good psychometric properties were selected. Internal consistency, convergent validity, and responsiveness were analyzed using the study data on the selected items (a new approach called virtual validation). Subscales were determined with factor analysis. Item, instruction, and response scale wording were harmonized. Seventeen items were included in the W ound‐ QoL , which could be attributed to three subscales on everyday life, body, and psyche. Both global score and subscale scores were internally consistent with C ronbach's alpha between 0.71 and 0.91. The global score showed significant convergent validity ( r = 0.48 to 0.69) and responsiveness ( r = 0.18 to 0.52); the same was true for the subscale scores. The W ound‐ QoL for measurement of HRQoL in chronic wounds proved to be internally consistent, valid, and responsive in G erman leg ulcer patients. The findings of this virtual validation study need to be confirmed in a longitudinal validation study on the final W ound‐ QoL , which is currently being conducted.