[Development and validation of a quality of life questionnaire for patients with chronic respiratory disease (CV-PERC): preliminary results].
OBJECTIVE
The instruments used to assess quality of life in patients with chronic respiratory difficulties have approached this construct in a limited and partial way. Due to this fact, the present paper aimed at describing the development and validation of the CV-PERC scale contemplating the dimensions of physical, psycho-emotional and social, cognitive, working, sexual functionalities and health perception and wellbeing.


METHODS
It was built stemming from the Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire and the SF-36, generating new items after a theoretical revision and interviews to patients. The selected items were submitted to expert's judgments (Neumonologists and Health Psychologists) to assess validity, wording and appropriateness of language. The initial 60-item instrument was applied to a sample of 101 patients for item selection and analysis. Lastly, the final 50-item scale was administered to a sample of 255 patients from four hospitals in Caracas, Venezuela, to collect data for reliability and validity analyses.


RESULTS
A 7-dimension factorial structure was found which explained 62.47% of the total variance (physical functionality, sexual functionality, working functionality, health perception and wellbeing, psycho-emotional functionality, cognitive functionality and social functionality). Internal consistency of each dimension and of the total scale was over 0.67. Convergent validity and discriminant coefficients were above 0.64.


CONCLUSIONS
The results provide evidence that the CV-PERC scale is a valid and reliable measure to assess quality of life in asthma and EPOC patients.
Zaragoza
Joanmir
J
Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela.
Lugli-Rivero
Zoraide
Z
D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires