RCMAR Measurement Tools

General Quality of Life Tools

Authors: The WHOQOL Group (1998)
Administration: 100 questions either self-administered or as a structured survey.
Constructs Measured: The WHOQOL-100 assessment survey addresses 24 quality of life facets which are grouped into four larger domains: Physical Health, Psychological, Social Relationships, and Environment.
Reliability and Validity: Good to excellent. Factor analysis confirms goodness of fit for the four-domain model loading onto the global measure of quality of life.
Assessment in Minorities and Elderly: The development of the WHOQOL-100 occurred simultaneously in 15 international centers. The construct was designed and tested specifically to be valid in a variety of cultures. Analyses of elderly persons were conducted.
Costs: Unknown
Detailed Notes

Authors: The WHOQOL Group lead by Mick Power
Administration: 26 questions
Constructs Measured: The WHOQOL-BREF contains two questions on overall quality of life and general health and 24 questions (one for each facet) used to produce scores for four domains related to quality of life: Physical Health, Psychological, Social Relationships, and Environment.
Reliability and Validity: Overall domain scores were very similar to the WHOQOL-100 scores collected from the same set of surveys. Reliabilities of the four domains are good. The four domain model is confirmed by factor analysis. Test-retest reliability was good to excellent.
Assessment in Minorities and Elderly: The development of the WHOQOL-BREF occurred simultaneously in 20 international centers. The construct was designed and tested specifically to be valid in a variety of cultures. Analyses of elderly persons were conducted.
Costs: Unknown
Detailed Notes

Authors: J.E. Ware, K.K. Snow, M. Kosinski, and B. Gandek (1993, 2000)
Administration: 36 questions in a self-administered survey taking 10-15 minutes to complete.
Constructs Measured: The SF-36 measures eight domains of health: physical functioning, role limitations due to physical health, bodily pain, general health perceptions, vitality, social functioning, role limitations due to emotional problems, and mental health. .
Reliability and Validity: Good to excellent for all eight domains.
Assessment in Minorities and Elderly: The SF-36 has been translated and adapted for use in more than 50 countries and many studies have used it with elderly subjects.
Costs: License must be purchased from QualityMetric Inc.
Detailed Notes

If you know of a measurement tool that should be included in this list please contact the Measurement Tools Site administrator: Mark Geesey