Evidence for the validity and reliability of the ALS assessment questionnaire: the ALSAQ-40.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the study was to assess the validity and reliability of a new disease specific measure of health-related quality of life for ALS/MND: the 40-item ALS Assessment Questionnaire (ALSAQ-40).


METHODS
We carried out a longitudinal postal survey. The two administrations of the questionnaire were separated by 3 months.


METHODS
Subjects were patients diagnosed with ALS/MND and registered with the UK MND Association.


RESULTS
Dimensions of the ALSAQ-40 were shown to have high levels of internal reliability. The ALSAQ-40 was found to be sensitive to changes in self reported overall health state.


CONCLUSIONS
We concluded that the ALSAQ-40 has high levels of reliability and validity and can be used as an outcome measure in studies evaluating new treatment regimes and therapies.
D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome