Dataset Information

Psychometric evaluation of an interview-administered version of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire for use in a cross-sectional study of a rural district in Bangladesh: an application of Rasch analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

This study aimed to validate the psychometric properties of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument, Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire for use in a rural district of Bangladesh.

Methods

This cross-sectional study recruited a multi-stage cluster random sample of 2425 participants from the rural district Narail of Bangladesh in May-July 2017. Rasch analysis was carried out using the sampled participants, as well as multiple validation random sub-samples of 300 participants, to validate four domains of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire: physical, psychological, social and environmental.

Results

The original WHOQOL-BREF appeared to be a poor fit for both sampled and sub-sampled group of participants in Narail district in all underlying domains: physical, psychological, social and environmental. Two items (sleep and work capacity) from the physical domain, two items (personal belief and negative feelings) from the psychological domain and three items (home environment, health care and transport) from the environment domain were excluded for goodness of fit of the Rasch model. The social domain exhibited reasonably reliable fitness while fulfilling all the assumptions of the Rasch model. A modified version of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire using five-items for the physical ([Formula: see text] = 36.47, p?=?0.013, Person Separation Index (PSI)?=?0.773), four-items for the psychological ([Formula: see text] = 28.30, p?=?0.029, PSI?=?0.708) and five-items for the environmental ([Formula: see text] = 36.97, p?=?0.011, PSI?=?0.804) domain was applied, which showed adequate internal consistency, reliability, unidimensionality, and similar functioning for different age-sex distributions.

Conclusions

The modified WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire translated into Bengali language appeared to be a valid tool for measuring quality of life in a typical rural district in Bangladesh. Despite some limitations of the modified WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire, further application of Rasch analysis using this version or an improved one in other representative rural areas of Bangladesh is recommended to assess the external validity of the outcomes of this study and to determine the efficacy of this tool to measure the quality of life at the national rural level.

SUBMITTER: Uddin MN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6451264 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in people living with HIV (PLHIV) has become crucial to evidence-based practice. The goals of this study are to analyze the psychometric properties and evidence of the validity of the Spanish version of WHOQOL-HIV-BREF in a sample of PLHIV in Spain and to examine the more impaired HRQoL facets and dimensions and identify the PLHIV who show the most vulnerable profile.MethodsA total of 1462 PLHIV participated in an observational cross-sectional ex-post-facto study. Data were collected at 33 Spanish sites through an online survey. In addition to measuring HRQoL, the study used other tools to measure treatment adherence (CEAT-VIH 2.0 version), psychological well-being (GHQ-12) and HIV-related stigma (HSSS). Cronbach's alpha, first- and second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the Pearson coefficient and one-way ANOVA were used to evaluate reliability, construct validity and concurrent and known-group validity, respectively. Differences according to the socio-demographic and epidemiological profiles of participants were analyzed.ResultsFirst- and second-order CFAs confirmed a six-domain first-order structure of the Spanish version of WHOQOL-HIV-BREF and one second-order factor related to overall HRQoL with an acceptable fit to the data, although some minor changes would improve it. The six-domain structure showed an acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha ranged from .61 to .81). Significant moderate to large correlations between domains and overall HRQoL, adherence, psychological well-being and negative self-image were found. Significant differences were found according to participants' self-reported CD4+ cell count in several HRQoL facets and domains. Being female, heterosexual, having low socio-economic and educational statuses, having acquired HIV through an unsafe injection and living more years with HIV were related to poorer HRQoL. PLHIV older than 50 presented lower scores in 19 HRQoL facets.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that the Spanish version of the WHOQOL-HIV-BREF is a valid instrument. It also presents the most recent data about HRQoL in PLHIV in Spain with the largest sample to date.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:This investigation expected to validate the psychometric properties of the modified seven-item Kessler psychological distress scale (K7) for measuring psychological distress in healthy rural population of Bangladesh. DESIGN:Cross-sectional study. SETTING:Narail district, Bangladesh. PARTICIPANTS:A random sample of 300 adults of age 18-90 years were recruited. Face-to-face interviews were conducted between July and August 2018 using an Android phone installed with a mobile data collection application known as CommCare. OUTCOME MEASURE:Validation of the K7 was the major outcome. Sociodemographic factors were measured to assess for Differential Item Functioning to check if the tool functions equally in different factors. Rasch analysis was carried out for the validation of the K7 scale in the healthy rural population of Bangladesh. RUMM2030 was used for the analyses. RESULTS:Results showed good overall fit, as indicated by a non-significant item-trait interaction (?2=44.54, df=28, p=0.0245) compared with a Bonferroni adjusted p value of 0.007. Both item fit (mean=0.30, SD 1.22) and person fit residuals (mean=-0.18, SD 0.85) showed perfect fit. Reliability was very good as indicated by a Person Separation Index=0.85?and Cronbach's alpha=0.89. All individual items were ordered thresholds. The K7 scale showed adequate reliability, unidimensionality and was free from local dependency. The K7 scale also showed similar functioning for adults and older adults, males and females, no education and any level of education, and at least some financial instability versus no financial instability. CONCLUSIONS:Validation of K7 scale confirmed that the tool is suitable for measuring psychological distress among the rural Bangladeshi population. Further research should validate the K7 scale in different rural settings in Bangladesh to determine a valid cut-off score for assessment of severity levels of psychological distress. The K7 scale should also be tested in other developing countries where sociodemographic characteristics are similar to those of Bangladesh.