title: Validity of three asthma-specific quality of life questionnaires: the patients' perspective.
abstract: It is not known which of the many asthma-specific quality of life (QoL) questionnaires best capture the lived experience of people with asthma. The objective of this study was to explore patients' views of three commonly used asthma-specific QoL questionnaires.
  
  
  
  Qualitative study using semistructured interviews.
  
  
  
  Primary and secondary care in Brighton and Hove, UK.
  
  
  
  30 adult people with a physician-diagnosis of asthma who were asked to complete the Juniper Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ-J), the Sydney Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ-S) and the Living with Asthma Questionnaire (LWAQ) to elicit their views on the content validity of these.
  
  
  
  Thematic content analysis revealed a lack of congruence between the concerns of people with asthma and the questionnaire content in terms of missing (eg, allergies) and irrelevant (eg, smoky restaurants) content. The AQLQ-J was perceived as a 'narrow', 'medical' questionnaire focused on symptoms, the environment and functional ability. In contrast, the LWAQ and the AQLQ-S were perceived to be 'non-medical'. The LWAQ was described as a 'test' and as a wide-ranging, embracing and holistic questionnaire. Its strong emotional focus was irritating to some. The AQLQ-S was described as a simple, quick and easy questionnaire, although there was a perception that it was lacking in depth.
  
  
  
  Patient interviews highlighted strengths and shortcomings in the content validity of these three asthma-specific questionnaires. For patients, the AQLQ-S content seemed to be the most pertinent in its adequacy of coverage of medical, social and emotional aspects of health-related QoL in asthma.
authors.affiliation: Division of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK.|Medical Sociology, Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian J
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3805-8219
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Apfelbacher
authors.affiliation: Division of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK.
authors.forename: Christina J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, Brighton, UK.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frew
authors.affiliation: Division of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH