V A Sansone,
M Panzeri,
M Montanari,
G Apolone,
S Gandossini,
M R Rose,
L Politano,
C Solimene,
G Siciliano,
L Volpi,
C Angelini, A Palmieri,
A Toscano,
O Musumeci,
T Mongini,
L Vercelli,
R Massa,
M B Panico,
M Grandi,
G Meola
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ABSTRACT: A quality of life (QoL) questionnaire for neuromuscular diseases was recently constructed and validated in the United Kingdom in a sample of adult patients with a variety of muscle disorders. Preliminary results suggested it could be a more relevant and practical measure of QoL in muscle diseases than generic health measures of QoL. The purpose of our work was: (i) To validate INQoL in Italy on a larger sample of adult patients with muscle diseases (ii) to compare INQoL to SF-36.
We have translated into Italian and applied language adaptations to the original UK INQoL version. We studied 1092 patients with different muscle disorders and performed (i) test-retest reliability (n = 80); (ii) psychometric (n = 345), known-group (n = 1092), external criterion (n = 70), and concurrent validity with SF-36 (n = 183).
We have translated and formally validated the Italian version of INQoL confirming and extending results obtained in the United Kingdom. In addition to good results in terms of reliability, known-group and criterion validity, a comparison with the SF-36 scales showed a stronger association between INQoL total index and SF-36 physical (r = -0.72) than mental (r = -0.38) summary health indexes. When considering comparable domains of INQoL and SF-36 with respect to an objective measure of muscle strength assessment (MMRC), regression analysis showed a stronger correlation using INQoL rather than SF-36 scores.
INQoL is recommended to assess QoL in muscle diseases because of its ability to capture physical limitations that are specifically relevant to the muscle condition.
European Journal of Neurology 03/2010; 17(9):1178-87. · 3.69 Impact Factor
