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Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
Published in: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 1/2012

Open Access 01-12-2012 | Research

The application of the drug user quality of life scale (DUQOL) in Australia

Authors: Carlos Zubaran, Jonathan Emerson, Rishi Sud, Elham Zolfaghari, Katia Foresti

Published in: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes | Issue 1/2012

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Abstract

Background

The concept of quality of life relates to the perceptions of individuals about their mental and physical health as well as non-health related areas. The evaluation of quality of life in the context of substance abuse has been conducted using generic instruments. The Drug Users Quality of Life Scale (DUQOL) is a specific assessment tool in which the most pertinent and salient areas to drug abusers are taken into consideration. In this study, the authors report the results of a validation study in which the DUQOL was used for the first time in Australia.

Methods

A sample of 120 participants from inpatient and outpatient treatment facilities completed a series of questionnaires, including the DUQOL and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF). Parameters investigated in this study included the demographic characteristics of the sample, internal structure, and convergent validity. Correlations between the DUQOL scale scores and the scores of the WHOQOL-Bref test were investigated via Pearson product-moment correlation analyses.

Results

The English version of the DUQOL attained a significant overall Cronbach's alpha of 0.868. The factorial analysis of the DUQOL identified one principal factor that accounted for 28.499% of the variance. Convergent validity analyses demonstrate significant correlations (p < 0.01) between the DUQOL scores and the scores of all four dimensions of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that the DUQOL constitutes a reliable research instrument for evaluating quality of life of substance users in Australia.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
The application of the drug user quality of life scale (DUQOL) in Australia
Authors
Carlos Zubaran
Jonathan Emerson
Rishi Sud
Elham Zolfaghari
Katia Foresti
Publication date
01-12-2012
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes / Issue 1/2012
Electronic ISSN: 1477-7525
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-10-31

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