title: General or disease specific questionnaire? A comparative study in hemodialysis patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Today questionnaires developed to assess important outcome measures such as health-related quality of life are widely used. In this study we evaluated the construct validity of the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and the reliability of its Turkish version in hemodialysis patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a sample of patients on renal dialysis (n = 94) the quality of life is measured by the NHP. The validity of this questionnaire is evaluated by using the Kidney Disease Questionnaire (KDQ) in the same patient group. The NHP is administered twice to each patient, at dialysis intervals two weeks apart.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NHP scores at both administrations are similar in both assessments. Pearson's correlation coefficients range from 0.61 to 0.84. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the NHP sections range between 0.64 and 0.79. The alpha coefficients for three of the NHP scales (energy, sleep and social isolation) are well below 0.7. In the KDQ the mean values obtained for the five dimensions are: 4.2 +/- 1.5 for physical symptoms, 4.8 +/- 1.7 for fatigue, 4.9 +/- 1.9 for depression, 4.2 +/- 1.2 for relationship with others, and 4.8 +/- 1.5 for frustration. In general the correlation between the dimensions of the NHP and KDQ is good and the correlation coefficients varies from 0.18 to 0.73. Clinical validity is assessed by examining the correlation between the results obtained for the two questionnaires (components of the NHP and KDQ) and hemoglobin level, number of the co-morbid conditions and educational level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The NHP is shown to have construct validity when used in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in Turkey. The application of the NHP in patients with ESRD is easy, fast and the questions are not difficult to understand. The multiple-degree scoring in the KDQ causes a complexity in answering. The correlation between the dimensions of the NHP and KDQ is good. Our results show better correlations between disease specific questionnaires and clinical parameters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Ankara, Turkey. skutlay@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Sim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kutlay
authors.forename: Gokhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nergizoglu
authors.forename: Sehim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kutlay
authors.forename: Kenan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Keven
authors.forename: Sehsuvar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Erturk
authors.forename: Kenan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ates
authors.forename: Neval
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Duman
authors.forename: Oktay
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Karatan
authors.forename: Teslime
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Atli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015897:Comorbidity; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004522:Educational Status; D005221:Fatigue / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D006454:Hemoglobins