Cultural Adaptation of the Alcohol Quality of Life Scale for Use in Japan, China, and Korea

Abstract

Objectives: Alcohol consumption carries a risk of adverse personal, social, and health effects. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a problematic pattern of alcohol use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress. The aim of this study was to determine the patient-perceived impact of AUD. MethOds: Focus groups were conducted with a sample of patients with current or remitted AUD in the UK and France to identify key areas of impact from the patient perspective. The groups were audio-recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis of the data was undertaken. Results: Ten focus groups were conducted with a total of 38 patients (20 current AUD, 18 remitted AUD; 26 male, 12 female; age range 23-69 years). All patients met the diagnostic criteria (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition) for alcohol dependence. Patients characterised their relationship with alcohol as an ongoing battle for control. The cycle of consumption and dependence permeated most areas of patients' lives, with often devastating consequences. Seven key areas of impact of AUD were identified: social and personal relationships; household, family and social activities; selfcare and personal safeguarding; emotional well-being; control over life, self and alcohol; financial and housing situation; and sleep disturbance. The impact of AUD continued even after patients stopped drinking; remitted patients described the ongoing battle to remain abstinent, and the lasting legacy of damaged relationships and feelings of low self-worth. cOnclusiOns: AUD has considerable impact on many areas of patients' lives, particularly relationships, and feelings of control and self-worth, which can continue even after abstinence has been achieved. From the patient perspective, drinking cessation or reduced consumption may not be the most relevant outcome to determine treatment benefit. There is a clear need for measures that can quantify the humanistic outcomes associated with AUD. Objectives: To compare Quality of Life (QOL) and societal costs in an ADHD population to a control group representing the general population. MethOds: An online cross-sectional retrospective study among parents of children with ADHD was conducted via Balans, a Dutch ADHD organization. Because of large differences in responder groups in the initial study, comparison with a control group was added to understand the impact of ADHD compared to the general population in greater detail. Therefore, a separate online research among parents of children without ADHD or any other chronic disease was performed. The control group was selected on the basis of pre-defined characteristics in order to match the ADHD group. QoL (EQ-5D for children and parents and KIDSCREEN-10 for children) and societal costs (TiC-P) were surveyed based on proxy reporting. In this study, monthly resource use of patients and their parents was identified. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test and Chi-square for p-values (sig. 2-tailed) were used for analysis on significance in differen...

Psychometric validation of the Japanese version of Alcohol Quality of Life Scale (AQoLS-Japan) in the treatment of patients with alcohol use disorder

“…Health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) is acknowledged as critical domain to consider when assessing the effectiveness of treatment for AUDs and is often included as a secondary endpoint in clinical trials [7,8]. However, a 2012 systematic review of AUD studies using generic HR-QoL scales found that they were not well suited to showing treatment effects in subjects with AUD [9]. Thus, the Alcohol Quality of Life Scale (AQoLS) was developed as the first AUD-specific measure of HR-QoL for increased sensitivity in showing the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions from the patient's perspective [10].…”

“…The development process for the original scale also included a formal translatability assessment by translation experts to ensure the items were amenable to translation and cultural adaptation. The original English (UK) version of AQoLS was translated into Japanese, and formal cultural adaptation was completed in July 2013 [9]. We present here the first assessment of the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the Alcohol Quality of Life Scale (AQoLS-Japan) in Japanese patients with an AUD.…”