Development of a disease specific quality of life questionnaire for patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy: the GO-QOL

Abstract

Aim-To develop a reliable and valid disease specific quality of life questionnaire (the GO-QOL) for patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO), that can be used to describe the health related quality of life and changes in health related quality of life over time as a consequence of disease and treatment. Methods-70 consecutive GO patients (age >18 years) who were referred for the first time to the combined outpatient clinic of the orbital centre and the department of endocrinology completed the 16 questions of the GO-QOL. Additional information on general quality of life and disease characteristics was obtained. Construct validity and internal consistency of the disease specific questionnaire was determined, based on principal component analysis, Cronbach alphas and correlations with MOS-24, three subscales of the SIP, demographic, and clinical measures. Results-The a priori expected subdivision of the questionnaire in two subscales, one measuring the consequences of double vision and decreased visual acuity on visual functioning, and one measuring the psychosocial consequences of a changed appearance, was confirmed in the principal component analysis. Both scales had a good reliability and high face validity. Correlations with other measures supported construct validity. Mean scores (range 0-100) were 54.7 (SD 22.8) for visual functioning and 60.1 (24.8) for appearance (higher score = better health). Conclusion-The GO-QOL is a promising tool to measure disease specific aspects of quality of life in patients with GO and provides additional information to traditional physiological or biological measures of health status. (Br J Ophthalmol 1998;82:773-779)

Assessing Graves’ ophthalmopathy-specific quality of life in Korean patients

“…In this study, we found that GO-QOL scores of Korean patients were significantly correlated with disease severity and inflammatory activity measured by the modified NOSPECS score and CAS, respectively. In addition, as the Cronbach alphas of the Korean language survey used in this study were comparable with those of the Dutch GO-QOL survey (visual functioning, 0.86 in reference vs 0.90 in this study; and appearance, 0.82 in reference vs 0.88 in this study), 6 it is assumed that the validity and internal consistency of the Korean language questionnaire were also well preserved.…”

“…The consistency and reliability of the questionnaire were both well preserved, compared with Cronbach's alphas of the Dutch GO-QOL survey made by Terwee et al 6 The mean QOL score of visual function-associated questionnaire was 73.7±26 (mean±SD). The mean QOL score of appearance-related questionnaire was 61.9 ± 26.…”

Test–retest reliability of the Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaires (FAQLQ) for children, adolescents and adults

“…To investigate test-retest reliability of the FAQLQs, we used the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), using a one-way ANOVA [20,21,23]. Values should be above 0.70 for group comparison studies and above 0.90-0.95 for individual measurements over time [24].…”

Quality of life in patients with benign thyroid disorders. A review

“…The GOQOL consists of 16 items sub-divided into two scales: 'visual functioning' and 'appearance'. Subsequent studies comprising 70 -164 well-described patients have shown excellent reliability (25,44), supported its construct validity (25,44,45), and demonstrated good responsiveness (45). According to the developers, the GOQOL is available in six languages (46).…”

“…The Graves' Ophthalmopathy Quality of Life Questionnaire (GOQOL) is a disease-specific HRQL instrument for patients with TAO (25,44,45). The development was based on a review of existing eye HRQL measures,…”