title: Developing a community-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) questionnaire for asthma: the Asthma-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire for Native American Adults (AQLQ-NAA).
abstract: The Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire for Native American Adults (AQLQ-NAA) was developed by modifying the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire-Marks (AQLQ-M) using the focus group technique. The 19-item AQLQ-NAA has emphasis on restrictions in social, community, and cultural activities. Higher scores indicate a better quality of life. The modified questionnaire was administered to a sample of 51 Native American adults with asthma at the Albuquerque USPHS Indian Hospital and its affiliated field clinics. Principal components analysis identified three domains with eigenvalues greater than 1.00: Community and Social Restrictions (CSR), Psychological Impact (PIM), and Symptoms (SYM). Cronbach's coefficient alpha for the AQLQ-NAA was 0.95 and ranged from 0.82 to 0.93 for the individual domains, indicating good internal consistency. The AQLQ-NAA score correlated negatively and significantly to urgent care visits, physician visits, and total number of medications taken for asthma in the past 6 and 12 months (p < 0.05). Additionally, the AQLQ-NAA score was correlated positively and significantly to medication adherence in the past 6 and 12 months (p < 0.05). Similar patterns of correlations were found with all three domain scores. These results indicated that there is evidence for the construct validity of the AQLQ-NAA and its domains. The AQLQ-NAA should provide a useful measure of HRQOL in asthma-specific medical interventions for the population in which it was developed.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque 87131, USA.
authors.forename: G V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Gupchup
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Hubbard
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Teel
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Singhal
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tonrey
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Rupp
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Coultas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009516:New Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*