WHOQOL-BREF as a measure of quality of life in older patients with depression

Abstract

Objective: To assess the reliability and validity of a brief measure of quality of life recently developed by the World Health Organization, the WHOQOL-BREF, and to examine its association with a variety of clinical and sociodemographic factors in older depressed patients.Design: Cross-sectional study.Methods: Older depressed patients (N=41) underwent diagnostic assessment using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and were independently assessed on a variety of measures including the WHOQOL-BREF (a 26-item self-report questionnaire generating four domain scores), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D); Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS); Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE); Modified Barthel Index (MBI); Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), and measures of physical health status and social relationships. Estimates of inter-rater and test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity were made.Results: 39 subjects completed the study. The majority of subjects (94.9%) received a diagnosis of DSM-IV Major Depressive Disorder. Levels of comorbidity were high. Three of the four domains of the WHOQOL-BREF (Physical, Psychological and Environment domains) demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity. However, the Social Relationships domain exhibited poor validity. Quality of life scores were strongly correlated with severity of depression, number of self-reported physical symptoms and self-assessed general health status. There was no relationship between diagnostic comorbidity and quality of life scores.Conclusions: The WHOQOL-BREF was successfully administered to older depressed patients although the concurrent validity of one of its four domains was poor. Quality of life scores were strongly correlated with severity of depression, raising the issue of measurement redundancy.

The suitability of the WHOQOL–BREF for Canadian and Norwegian older adults

“…A comparison of the domain scores by health status and presence of morbidity showed that the WHOQOL-BREF has power to discriminate between groups, also reported by others (Amir et al 1999;Chachamovich et al 2006;Hawthorne et al 2006;Hwang et al 2003;Jang et al 2004;Tazaki et al 1998;Von Steinbuchel et al 2006). In contrast, Naumann and Byrne (2003) found no relationship between morbidity and QoL scores.…”

“…The social domain correlated weakly with the social functioning component of the SF-12 in both study samples. Poor concurrent validity with measures of social support has been reported by Naumann and Byrne (2003). A comparison of the domain scores by health status and presence of morbidity showed that the WHOQOL-BREF has power to discriminate between groups, also reported by others (Amir et al 1999;Chachamovich et al 2006;Hawthorne et al 2006;Hwang et al 2003;Jang et al 2004;Tazaki et al 1998;Von Steinbuchel et al 2006).…”

“…Unacceptable reliability was found for the social domain; evidence of its criterion validity was also lacking. Naumann and Byrne (2003) explored the psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-BREF in 39 Australian older adults (M = 78.05 years) with depression, showing good validity and reliability for the physical, psychological and environmental domains, but not the social domain. QoL scores were found to be to be strongly correlated with severity of depression, number of self-reported physical symptoms and self-assessed health status.…”

Qualidade De Vida Dos Profissionais De Enfermagem De Um Hospital Universitário Do Interior De São Paulo

“…No domínio psicológico que avalia, por exemplo, se o entrevistado está satisfeito consigo mesmo e com sua aparência ou a frequência de sentimentos negativos, a média da amostra estudada foi de 66,5%. Este valor é superior ao encontrado no estudo que avaliou idosos depressivos (49,8%) (26) e no estudo que avaliou pacientes esquizofrênicos (55,8%) (27) . Não podemos dizer que esses pacientes possuem um grau maior de satisfação, porque grande parcela da amostra considera não estar aproveitando a vida e apresentam sentimentos negativos.…”

Health Economics and Geriatrics: Challenges and Opportunities

“…The majority of the studies that have been undertaken to date with older people have been based in community samples and have employed the AQoL [Osbourne et al 2003], the SF-36 [Walters et al, 2001] and the EQ-5D [Holland et al 2004] to assess health status at a population level. Similarly, a variety of instruments have been employed in groups of people living with particular health conditions [Dugan et al 1998;Logsdon et al 2002;Naumann et al 2004]. Comparative evidence relating to the application of two or more generic preference based instruments simultaneously in older people suggests that the EQ-5D is easier to administer and has higher completion rates relative to the AQoL and SF-6D [Brazier et al 1996;Holland et al 2004].…”