Development of the multidimensional index of life quality. A quality of life measure for cardiovascular disease.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to design a multidimensional measure of health-related quality of life appropriate for patients with cardiovascular disease that was psychometrically sound, brief, and easy to administer.


METHODS
Qualitative interviews conducted with healthy subjects and patients with cardiovascular diseases identified nine major quality of life domains. Based on the responses of 129 cardiovascular disease patients recruited from hospitals and clinics, a criterion-based approach was used to select 35 questionnaire items that best tapped these domains. Psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Index of Life Quality (MILQ) were tested with a sample of 348 patients with various cardiovascular diseases.


RESULTS
Cronbach's alpha was 0.76 or higher for eight of the nine MILQ domains. Test-retest reliability coefficients were 0.73 or greater in all but two domains. Individual domain scores as well as a weighted overall quality of life index were correlated highly with self-assessed health and the number of heart-related symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
The Multidimensional Index of Life Quality is a psychometrically reliable and valid instrument for measuring quality of life in patients with cardiovascular diseases. The MILQ also may be a suitable measure for other types of chronic diseases.
New England Research Institutes, Watertown, MA 02172, USA.
N E
NE
Avis
K W
KW
Smith
R K
RK
Hambleton
H A
HA
Feldman
A
A
Selwyn
A
A
Jacobs
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D011897:Random Allocation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires