Impact of syncope on quality of life: validation of a measure in patients undergoing tilt testing.
OBJECTIVE
Recurrent syncope has a significant impact on quality of life. The development of measurement scales to assess this impact that are easy to use in clinical settings is crucial. The objective of the present study is a preliminary validation of the Impact of Syncope on Quality of Life questionnaire for the Portuguese population.


METHODS
The instrument underwent a process of translation, validation, analysis of cultural appropriateness and cognitive debriefing. A population of 39 patients with a history of recurrent syncope (>1 year) who underwent tilt testing, aged 52.1 ± 16.4 years (21-83), 43.5% male, most in active employment (n=18) or retired (n=13), constituted a convenience sample. The resulting Portuguese version is similar to the original, with 12 items in a single aggregate score, and underwent statistical validation, with assessment of reliability, validity and stability over time.


RESULTS
With regard to reliability, the internal consistency of the scale is 0.9. Assessment of convergent and discriminant validity showed statistically significant results (p<0.01). Regarding stability over time, a test-retest of this instrument at six months after tilt testing with 22 patients of the sample who had not undergone any clinical intervention found no statistically significant changes in quality of life.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that this instrument is of value for assessing quality of life in patients with recurrent syncope in Portugal.
Área Cientifica de Fisioterapia/Departamento das Ciências e Tecnologias de Reabilitação, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. Electronic address: elisabete.nave.leal@gmail.com.
Elisabete
E
Nave-Leal
Laboratório de Pacing e Electrofisiologia/Serviço de Cardiologia, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, Hospital de Santa Marta, Lisboa, Portugal.
Mário
M
Oliveira
FCT/Unidade de Investigação em Psicologia e Saúde (UIPES), Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
José
J
Pais-Ribeiro
Laboratório de Pacing e Electrofisiologia/Serviço de Cardiologia, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, Hospital de Santa Marta, Lisboa, Portugal.
Sofia
S
Santos
Laboratório de Pacing e Electrofisiologia/Serviço de Cardiologia, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, Hospital de Santa Marta, Lisboa, Portugal.
Eunice
E
Oliveira
Laboratório de Pacing e Electrofisiologia/Serviço de Cardiologia, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, Hospital de Santa Marta, Lisboa, Portugal.
Teresa
T
Alves
Laboratório de Pacing e Electrofisiologia/Serviço de Cardiologia, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, Hospital de Santa Marta, Lisboa, Portugal.
Rui
R
Cruz Ferreira
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D057566:Self Report; D013575:Syncope / Q000175:diagnosis; D018667:Tilt-Table Test; D055815:Young Adult
Qualidade de vida; Quality of life; Syncope; Síncope; Validation of measures; Validação de medidas