title: Comparison of a generic to disease-targeted health-related quality-of-life measures for multiple sclerosis.
abstract: Evaluation of the relative contributions of generic and disease-targeted measures to assessing health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for chronic conditions is needed to help in selection of appropriate measures. We administered a generic HRQOL measure (the Short Form-36 [SF-36]), three disease-targeted supplemental scales to the SF-36, and two disease-targeted HRQOL instruments to 171 adults with multiple sclerosis. Most scales yielded adequate variability, internal consistency reliability, and test-retest reliability. The relationship between each measure and four primary "criterion" variables were assessed: overall symptom severity in the prior year; ambulation status; days unable to work or attend school in the prior month: and a rating of overall quality of life. Results indicate that the disease-targeted scales provided unique information not captured by the generic measure. We conclude that if a generic measure of HRQOL is desirable for a given study of multiple sclerosis, additional information will be gained by supplementing that measure with selected scales.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095-1769, USA.
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Vickrey
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Genovese
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Ellison
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile