title: The psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Stroke Quality of Life Scale.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Quality of life (QoL) is currently of particular importance to health services and is regarded a key dimension for the assessment of stroke outcomes. However there are few instruments available for the Portuguese population.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present work is to determine the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Stroke Quality of Life Scale (ECVI-38), including acceptability, construct and criterion validity.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample comprised 51 patients with a clinical history of stroke (2 to 24 months prior) from the outpatient clinic of two Portuguese hospitals.. Patients with neuropsychiatric pathologies or other health conditions that might affect QoL were excluded. Parallel to the application of the ECVI-38, several other tests were used in order to determine the discriminative and concurrent validity of the scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ECVI-38 showed good acceptability, with missing data below 10%, and ceiling and floor effects below 80%. Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was 0.94 and ranged between 0.7 and 0.9 in each domain. ECVI-38 results were able to differentiate patients according to the severity of neurological impairment. Every domain of the scale correlated significantly with instruments of similar content.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Portuguese version of the ECVI-38 showed good psychometric characteristics.
authors: Psychology Department, The Advanced Institute of Health Sciences, Advanced Polytechnic and University Cooperative, Gandra, Portugal.
authors: Susana
authors: S
authors: Silva
authors: Dulce
authors: D
authors: Sousa
authors: Vivian
authors: V
authors: Rezende
authors: Arcília
authors: A
authors: Teixeira
authors: Bruno
authors: B
authors: Peixoto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011174:Portugal; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires