The Quality of Life Impact of Refractive Correction (QIRC) Questionnaire: development and validation.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of the study was to develop a questionnaire that could quantify the quality of life (QOL) of people with refractive correction by spectacles, contact lenses, and refractive surgery in the prepresbyopic age group.


METHODS
The questionnaire was developed and validated using traditional methods and Rasch analysis. A 90-item pilot questionnaire was developed through extensive literature search and use of professional and lay focus groups. Pilot study data were obtained from 306 subjects for item reduction to produce the 20-item Quality of Life Impact of Refractive Correction (QIRC) questionnaire. Validity and reliability studies (test-retest reliability with intraclass correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman limits of agreement, and internal consistency with Rasch fit statistics, factor analysis, and Cronbach's alpha) were performed from data of an additional 312 subjects.


RESULTS
Rasch analysis demonstrated QIRC has good precision, reliability, and internal consistency (person separation, 2.03; reliability, 0.80; root-mean-square measurement error, 3.25; mean square +/- SD infit, 0.99 +/- 0.38; outfit, 1.00 +/- 0.39; item infit range, 0.70 to 1.24; and item outfit range, 0.78 to 1.32). The items (mean score, 50.3 +/- 7.3) were well targeted to the subjects (mean score, 47.8 +/- 5.5) with a mean difference of 2.45 (scale range, 0 to 100) units. Test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.88; coefficient of repeatability, +/-6.85 units), factor loading range (0.40 to 0.76), and Cronbach's alpha (0.78) also indicated the reliability and validity of QIRC.


CONCLUSIONS
The 20-item QIRC questionnaire, which quantifies the QOL of people with refractive correction by spectacles, contact lenses, and refractive surgery in the prepresbyopic age group, was developed using Rasch analysis and shown to be valid and reliable. The use of Rasch scaling allows scores to be treated as a valid continuous variable. QIRC has broad applicability for cross-sectional and outcomes research.
Pesudovs
Konrad
K
Department of Optometry, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. K.Pesudovs@bradford.ac.uk
Garamendi
Estibaliz
E
Elliott
David B
DB
D000328:Adult; D003261:Contact Lenses; D005139:Eyeglasses; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D054140:Refractive Surgical Procedures; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*