title: Assessing quality of life for adolescents in Taiwan.
abstract: This study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Taiwanese quality of life questionnaire for adolescents and the factors affecting the quality of life of Taiwanese adolescents. The survey involved 5538 junior high school students, aged 13-15 years. An initial 90-item questionnaire was shortened to 38 items by means of principal component analyses. Quality of life assessment involved seven factors: family, residential environment, personal competence, social relationships, physical appearance, psychological well-being, and pain. The rate of missing data was low. The Cronbach alpha coefficient remained above the 0.75 threshold criterion for the global scale and seven subdomain scales. A lower quality of life score was evident for female adolescents in higher grades in school, those living with a single parent or other relatives, and those living in rural areas. This 38-item questionnaire should serve as a reliable tool for future studies.
authors.affiliation: The Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang-Ming University Schools of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. jlfuh@vghtpe.gov.tw
authors.forename: Jong-Ling
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Fuh
authors.forename: Shuu-Jiun
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shiang-Ru
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Kai-Dih
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Juang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent / Q000639:trends; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D020954:Single-Parent Family / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan