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A short multilingual quality of life questionnaire — practicability, reliability and interlingual homogeneity

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Abstract

International cooperative clinical trials require a multilingual quality of life questionnaire. The ‘International Society for Chemo- and Immunotherapy’ therefore designed a study to develop and test a ‘health accentuated’ quality of life questionnaire in the eight languages spoken in this society. The objective was to examine practicability, reliability and interlingual homogeneity. Versions of the questionnaire in Czech, German, Hungarian, Italian, Kroatian, Polish, Romanian and Slovakian have been prepared. The results are based on data of 1,104 adult patients. They demonstrate that the developed questionnaire is practicable. Patients need 10–15 min to answer it, usually without assistance. The proportion of missing values is for all but two questions less than 3%. The questionnaire also found high acceptance reflected by only 2.7% refusals. It is reasonably reliable in each language. Interlingual homogeneity could be shown by demonstration of strong structural similarities between the different versions using multidimensional scaling, factor analysis and comparison of mean profiles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ludwig Boltzmann-Institute for Leukaemia Research and Haematology, H. Collinstrasse 30, A-1140, Vienna, Austria

    H. Tüchler & S. Hofmann

  2. III. Med. Dept., Hanusch Hospital, Vienna, Austria

    M. Bernhart

  3. Dept. of Haematology, Local Sanitarian Unit of the Region Calabria, Reggio di Calabria, Italy

    M. Brugiatelli

  4. Med. Dept., Charles University, Hradec Králové, Czechoslovakia

    L. Chrobak

  5. Dept. of Haematology and Oncology, Medical Academy, Magdeburg, Germany

    A. Franke

  6. Dept. of Haematology, Silesian Medical Academy, Katowice, Poland

    J. Holowiecki

  7. Dept. of Haematology, Charité, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

    R. Ihle

  8. Dept. of Medicine, Clin. Hosp. “Dr O. Novosel”, Zagreb, Kroatia

    B. Jaksic

  9. II. Med. Clinic, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czechoslovakia

    I. Krc

  10. Clinic of Haematology, Hospital Funedi, Bucharest, Romania

    N. Munteanu

  11. Dept. of Haematology, Oncological Centre, Kraków, Poland

    M. Pawlicki

  12. Clinic for Haematology and Transfusiology, Medical Faculty, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia

    A. Sakalova

  13. III. Med. Clinic, University Semmelweis, Budapest, Hungary

    V. Schranz

  14. Dept. of Haematology and Oncology, Medical Academy “Carl Gustav Carus”, Dresden, Germany

    H. Wolf

  15. I. Internal Dept., Hospital of “Elisabethinen”, Linz, Austria

    D. Lutz

  16. Clinic for Internal Medicine, Medical Academy Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany

    M. Herold

Authors
  1. H. Tüchler
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  2. S. Hofmann
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  3. M. Bernhart
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  4. M. Brugiatelli
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  5. L. Chrobak
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  6. A. Franke
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  7. M. Herold
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  8. J. Holowiecki
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  9. R. Ihle
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  10. B. Jaksic
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  11. I. Krc
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  12. N. Munteanu
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  13. M. Pawlicki
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  14. A. Sakalova
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  15. V. Schranz
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  16. H. Wolf
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  17. D. Lutz
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Tüchler, H., Hofmann, S., Bernhart, M. et al. A short multilingual quality of life questionnaire — practicability, reliability and interlingual homogeneity. Qual Life Res 1, 107–117 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00439718

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00439718

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