Psychometric properties of WHOQOL-BREF-THAI in patients with HIV/AIDS.

OBJECTIVE: To assess reliability and validity of the Thai abbreviated version of World Health Organization quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF-THAI) in HIV/AIDS patients. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The present study is descriptive research. Data were purposefully collected from 120 HIV/AIDS outpatients at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute, Thailand, during September-December 2004. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.61 to 0.81 across domains. Exploratory factor analysis identified four major domains: physical, psychological, social and environmental domains, corresponding to the four WHOQOL-BREF domains. The four domain scores correlated positively with general health satisfaction and overall quality of life questions (all p < 0.01 except general health & social domain p < 0.05), and correlated negatively with the frequency and severity of HIV symptoms (all p < 0.01). The four domain scores discriminated between patients with higher and lower frequency and severity of HIV symptoms (all p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The present study shows that WHOQOL-BREF THAI can be a good generic health-related quality of life instrument in HIV/AIDS patients.

The validity of A new practical quality of life measure in patients on renal replacement therapy.

OBJECTIVE: A new quality of life measure, apart of the National Health and Welfare 2003 survey, is a promising tool for outcome evaluation of clinical practice due to its brevity, validity, reliability, and providing easy interpretation against general population norm-based scores. The measure consisting of 9-items, and so called 9-item Thai Health status Assessment Instrument (9-THAI) was used to assess its validity and reliability in patients on renal replacement therapy (RRT). MATERIAL AND METHOD: Three hundred and two patients on RRT who visited Srinagarind Hospital from March to May 2005 were studied Convergent and divergent validity were assessed using SF-36 as the concurrent measure. Concurrent validity was also assessed using hematocrit level and hospitalization history in the last year as concurrent clinical measures. Test-retest reliability was studied by repeated measure within one 1 month. Responsiveness of 9-THAI was studied in patients who reported health improvement. RESULTS: Results of correlations between 9-THAI and SF-36 domains were as hypothesized 9-THAI scores were significantly correlated with hematocrit level and hospitalization history. The results confirmed the validity of 9-THAI for use as a quality of life measure. Intraclass correlation coefficients of 9-THAI scores in stable patients were satisfactory. Among patients on RRT who reported overall health improvement, 9-THAI scores significantly increased, thus adding further evidence of the responsiveness of 9-THAI. CONCLUSION: The 9-THAI is a valid and reliable generic health status measure that can be used as an ideal core in a battery of quality of life measures in clinical practice for patients on RRT.