Psychometric documentation of a quality-of-life questionnaire for patients undergoing antireflux surgery (QOLARS)

Abstract

Our questionnaire is a short and user-friendly instrument with excellent psychometric properties. It has been found to be valid and reliable.

Quality of life and patient satisfaction after laparoscopic antireflux surgery using the QOLARS questionnaire

“…Validation of the QOLARS was established with 116 patients, as described previously [20]. The purpose for constructing this questionnaire was to establish an instrument suitable for measuring the efficacy and success of surgery from the patientÕs viewpoint, and to determine the impact of surgery on the patientÕs quality of life..…”

“…As described previously [20], the resulting QOLARS instrument is a 50-item Likert-type questionnaire including both generic and diseasespecific scales (Visick score, EORTC QLQ-C30, the modified GERD-HRQL, and questions focused on the new complaints appearing after antireflux surgery and overall satisfaction with the results of fundoplication) designed to measure patientsÕ quality of life. The QOLARS is a practical, user-friendly instrument to which patients can easily respond.…”

Impact of Surgeon Experience on 5-Year Outcome of Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication

“…The Visick score, the only "overall score" available and validated, correlates well with the most prominent symptom of GERD (heartburn) 19 and with a validated questionnaire 20 for reflux symptoms 21 and was used in this study to score the effect of surgery on symptoms in 4 grades: complete resolution (grade I), improvement (grade II), no effect of surgery (grade III), or deterioration (grade IV), always in comparison with their preoperative state. In addition, the frequency of heartburn, regurgitation, and dysphagia were scored from 0 to 5.…”

Impact of symptom–reflux association analysis on long-term outcome after Nissen fundoplication

“…Visick scores were used to give an overall impression of the patient's appreciation of antireflux surgery. These scores correlate well with heartburn 17 and a validated questionnaire 20 for reflux symptoms 21 . Cardinal symptoms and dysphagia were assessed using a grading system that combined frequency and severity, resulting in grades ranging from 0 (symptom absent) to 3 (symptom frequent and severe) 16 .…”