Validity of an abbreviated Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q-18) for schizophrenia, schizoaffective,and mood disorder patients

Abstract

We sought to identify a core subset of Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q) items that maintains the validity and psychometric properties of the basic version. A parsimonious subset of items from the Q-LES-Q that can accurately predict the basic Q-LES-Q domain mean scores was sought and evaluated in 339 inpatients meeting DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia, schizoaffective, and mood disorders. Three additional data sets were used for validation. Assessments included Q-LES-Q, Quality of Life Scale, Lancashire Quality of Life Profile, rating scales for psychopathology, medication side effects, and self-reported emotional distress, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social support. We found that 18-items predicted basic Q-LES-Q domains (physical health, subjective feelings, leisure time activities, social relationships) and general index scores with high accuracy. Q-LES-Q-18 showed high reliability, validity, and stability of test-retest ratings. Thus, Q-LES-Q-18, a brief, self-administered questionnaire may aid in monitoring quality of life outcomes of schizophrenia, schizoaffective, and mood disorder patients.

The Measurement of Health-Related Quality of Life in a Population with Generalized Anxiety Disorder – Findings from the QUEST Study

“…The fact that the Q-LES-Q(SF) does not represent a GAD-specific patient-reported measure of QOL is another potential limitation. However, the validity of the Q-LES-Q has been convincingly demonstrated across psychiatric disorders (Endicott et al 1993;Ritsner et al 2005;Rossi et al 2005;Endicott et al 2006;Schechter et al 2007;Mick et al 2008;Revicki et al 2008). As an exploratory secondary data analysis, no method to control for the probability of family-wise type I error due to multiple comparisons planned was incorporated beyond Scheffe's method as mentioned for overall comparisons.…”

“…The Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q), in both the long and short form (Q-LES-Q(SF)), is a widely used instrument for measuring QOL and satisfaction. Originally developed for use in clinical trials and among trial participants with a wide variety of mental and medical diseases or disorders (Endicott et al 1993), it has been shown to offer high internal consistency, validity and reproducibility in non-psychiatric populations and in patients with a range of psychiatric illnesses (Endicott et al 1993;Ritsner et al 2005;Rossi et al 2005;Endicott et al 2006;Schechter et al 2007;Mick et al 2008;Revicki et al 2008). Thus, the Q-LES-Q(SF) is a PRO measure that has the potential to extend and complement clinical efficacy endpoints and demonstrate the impact of alleviating GAD symptoms on patients' everyday functioning.…”

Effectiveness of Integrated Care Including Therapeutic Assertive Community Treatment in Severe Schizophrenia Spectrum and Bipolar I Disorders

“…22 The Q-LES-Q-18 is a self-report instrument scored on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating better enjoyment and satisfaction with specific life domains. A score of 4.1 points characterizes good quality of life (healthy controls); patients' satisfaction with care 5.…”

Quality of Life in Psychosis: Prevalence and Associated Factors in a Nigerian Clinical Population

“…These findings suggest that quality of life of mentally ill persons may not be determined by the psychiatric diagnosis. It has been reported that quality of life in schizoaffective disorder could mimic that of schizophrenia (Ritsner et al 2005) or affective disorder (Saarni et al 2010).…”