title: Measuring quality of life in cardiac spouses.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop an objective instrument to measure changes in quality of life of spouses of post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients, and to determine its responsiveness and validity. A 70-item list of potential areas of concern was compiled; the 25 most frequent and important concerns comprised the framework of the final questionnaire. The questions on the Quality of Life Questionnaire for Cardiac Spouses (QL-SP) were categorized into the Emotional Function Dimension (EFD), and the Physical and Social Function Dimension (PSFD). Subjects (n = 39) completed the QL-SP and a battery of established questionnaires at home, 1-2 weeks post-hospital discharge for the patient, and 8 weeks later. Scores on the QL-SP between visits were improved for both the EFD (t = 5.56, p less than 0.001), and the PSFD (t = 6.11, p less than 0.001). The agreement between predicted and observed relationships between the dimension changes and other index changes, as measured statistically by a kappa with Cicchetti weights, was significant (kappa w = 0.43, p = 0.0012). The QL-SP appears to be responsive and valid, and may be useful in evaluating clinical and research intervention strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Ebbesen
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Guyatt
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: McCartney
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Oldridge
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires