VEINES-QOL/Sym questionnaire was a reliable and valid disease-specific quality of life measure for deep venous thrombosis.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the validity of VEINES-QOL/Sym, a patient-reported questionnaire to evaluate quality of life and symptoms in patients with deep venous thrombosis (DVT).


METHODS
Psychometric study within the Venous Thrombosis Outcomes (VETO) Study, a prospective cohort study of long-term outcomes after DVT. A total of 359 English- and French-speaking patients with acute, objectively diagnosed DVT were recruited at seven hospitals in Quebec, Canada. The VEINES-QOL/Sym questionnaire, a 26-item patient-reported measure that generates separate summary scores for symptoms (VEINES-Sym) and quality of life (VEINES-QOL) was evaluated for acceptability, reliability, validity, and responsiveness in VETO Study subjects.


RESULTS
Standard psychometric tests confirmed the acceptability (missing data, item endorsement frequencies, floor and ceiling effects), reliability (internal consistency, item-total and inter-item correlations, test-retest), validity (content, construct, convergent, discriminant, known groups), and responsiveness to clinical change of the VEINES-QOL/Sym in patients with DVT.


CONCLUSIONS
The VEINES-QOL/Sym is a practical and scientifically sound patient-reported measure of outcomes that was developed using gold-standard methods. VEINES-QOL/Sym is valid and reliable for use as a measure of quality of life and symptoms in patients with acute DVT and provides a rigorous tool to allow more comprehensive evaluation of outcomes in clinical trials and epidemiological studies of patients with DVT.
Kahn
Susan R
SR
Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Community Studies, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. susan.kahn@mcgill.ca
Lamping
Donna L
DL
Ducruet
Thierry
T
Arsenault
Louise
L
Miron
Marie José
MJ
Roussin
André
A
Desmarais
Sylvie
S
Joyal
France
F
Kassis
Jeannine
J
Solymoss
Susan
S
Desjardins
Louis
L
Johri
Mira
M
Shrier
Ian
I
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004522:Educational Status; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*