Abstract

VASCONCELOS, Alina Gomide; LIMA, Eduardo de Paula  and  HAASE, Vitor Geraldi. Adaptation of an instrument of self-perception of quality of life for healthy individuals. Gerais, Rev. Interinst. Psicol. [online]. 2008, vol.1, n.2, pp. 102-112. ISSN 1983-8220.

Health-related qualify of life (HRQOL) is being increasingly recognized as an important outcome in the health sciences, especially in relation to chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). One of the main shortcomings in the field is the lack of instruments designed to simultaneously assess specific aspects pertaining to each disease and general questions, which would allow comparisons to be made between different nosological entities. We based our work on a modular model, which allows the assessment of both specific and generic aspects of HRQOL, and which was validated for use in Brazil. Building on the modular model we developed an instrument called DEFIS, designed to compare HRQOL between MS individuals and the healthy population. In this preliminary study, we report on the instrument development and its psychometric characteristics (internal consistency and criterion validity). Results show that the adapted DEFIS version is psychometrically adequate to compare and discriminate between the HRQOL profiles of MS patients and three samples from the healthy population (university students, preschool teachers, and nurses).

Keywords : Multiple Sclerosis; Health-Related Quality of Life; Psychometrics.

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