Reliability and validity of the Dutch translated Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate reliability and validity of the Dutch translated Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire (AVVQ) for measuring health related quality of life (HR-QOL) in patients with venous disease in the lower limb.


METHODS
The AVVQ consists of 13 questions related varicose veins. This study assessed feasibility, reliability and validity of the Dutch translated AVVQ in a sample of 145 patients with venous disease of the leg. Test and retest of the Dutch translated AVVQ were performed within a 2 week interval.


RESULTS
There was a high test (99%) and retest (97%) response. Feasibility; AVVQ showed few missing answers (0.6%) and non-unique answers (0.2%). Regarding internal consistency; Cronbach's alpha exceeded 0.7 indicating a high level of concordance between the AVVQ questions (alpha=0.76). Test-retest reliability; Spearman's rho showed a significant strong association between test and retest scores (rho=0.87). Discriminative validity; AVVQ score was able to differentiate between subgroups of patients with different severity of venous disease according to the CEAP classification (Mann-Whitney U test, p<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
This study supports applications of the Dutch AVVQ in HR-QOL measurement in patients with venous disease in the Netherlands and the Flemish speaking part of Belgium.
Klem
T M A L
TM
Erasmus Medical Center, Department of Vascular Surgery, Kleiweg 500, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. t.klem@sfg.nl
Sybrandy
J E M
JE
Wittens
C H A
CH
Essink Bot
M L
ML
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001530:Belgium; D032882:Comprehension; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult