title: Development and testing of the Parkinson's disease quality of life scale.
abstract: We report on the development and results of preliminary psychometric testing of a disease specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scale intended for use in individuals diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Results from an initial qualitative study provided content for item development and scale construction of the Parkinson's disease quality of life scale (PDQUALIF). The 33-item instrument includes seven domains: social/role function, self-image/sexuality, sleep, outlook, physical function, independence, and urinary function, plus one item of Global HRQoL. Initial psychometric testing of the instrument was conducted in 233 outpatient clinic attendees with physician-confirmed idiopathic PD. Factor structure, reliability and validity of the scale have been established in this cross-sectional study. Continuing development of the PDQUALIF will be directed at enhancing the psychometric properties, establishing responsiveness and determining appropriateness in culturally diverse samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Mickie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Welsh
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Holloway
authors.forename: Sandy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Plumb
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hubble
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*