Validity of korean versions of the multiple sclerosis impact scale and the multiple sclerosis international quality of life questionnaire.
OBJECTIVE
Assessment of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is important in clinical evaluations of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients for quantifying the impact of illness and treatment on their daily lives. Although MS-specific HRQoL instruments have been used internationally, there are no data regarding HRQoL instruments specifically designed for patients with MS in Korea. The objective of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of the Korean Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29) and the Multiple Sclerosis International Quality of Life (MusiQoL) questionnaire.


METHODS
Fifty-six patients with MS were recruited from June 2009 to February 2010 at the National Cancer Center in Korea. The original English versions of the MSIS-29 scale and the MusiQoL questionnaire were translated into Korean and evaluated for their acceptability, reliability, and validity.


RESULTS
The patients wereaged 36.5±8.6 years (mean±SD; range, 20-56 years). Their score on the Expanded Disability Status Scale was 2.0±1.9 (mean; range, 0-7.5), and their disease duration was 5.2±4.7 years (mean±SD; range, 1-24 years). The Korean versions of the MSIS-29 and MusiQoL questionnaires showed satisfactory psychometric properties, including construct validity (item-internal consistencies of 0.59-0.95 and 0.59-0.92, respectively; item-discriminant validities of 95-100% and 93.8-100%), internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.96-0.97 and 0.77-0.96), reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.78-0.90 and 0.50-0.93), unidimensionality (Loevinger scalability coefficients of 0.70-0.78 and 0.63-0.90), and acceptability. External validity testing indicated the presence of significant correlations between similar aspects of the two questionnaires.


CONCLUSIONS
The Korean translated versions of the MSIS-29 and MusiQoL questionnaires demonstrated reliability and validity for measuring HRQoL in Korean patients with MS.
Department of Neurology, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
So-Young
SY
Huh
Biometric Research Branch, Research Institute and Hospital of National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
Jungnam
J
Joo
Department of Neurology, Research Institute and Hospital of National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
Su-Hyun
SH
Kim
Department of Neurology, Research Institute and Hospital of National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
Ae-Ran
AR
Joung
Biometric Research Branch, Research Institute and Hospital of National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
Kibyung
K
Park
Department of Neurology, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Woojun
W
Kim
Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
Min Su
MS
Park
Department of Neurology, Research Institute and Hospital of National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
Ho Jin
HJ
Kim
MSIS-29; MusiQoL; health-related quality of life; multiple sclerosis