title: A short measure of quality of life in older age: the performance of the brief Older People's Quality of Life questionnaire (OPQOL-brief).
abstract: Promoting quality of life in older age is an internationally recognized priority, requiring valid measurement. We present a short version of the established Older People's Quality of Life questionnaire (OPQOL-brief). The full OPQOL-35 was original in being developed from the perspectives of older people, assessed conceptually, and validated with a population sample using gold-standard psychometric assessment. The OPQOL-brief was also developed by asking older people to prioritize the most important items from the OPQOL-35, next assessed psychometrically with a population sample, and also statistically against the discarded 22 items. The aim was to assess the psychometric properties of the short, 13-item version of the OPQOL (OPQOL-brief), and to compare the performance of included and discarded items. The method was a national population survey of people aged 65+ living at home. The measures were OPQOL-brief, WHOQOL-QOL and CASP-19. The OPQOL-brief was found to be a highly reliable and valid, short measure of quality of life in older age. The OPQOL-brief is of value in assessment of interventions where a rigorously tested, short measure is required. The grounded development of the instrument is consistent with international policy emphasis on user involvement in shaping policy and research.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southampton, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO171BJ, United Kingdom. a.bowling@soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bowling
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hankins
authors.forename: Gill
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Windle
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bilotta
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grant
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires