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Development and Psychometric Properties of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument (WHOQOL-100) in Portugal

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Abstract

Background

At the beginning of the 1990s, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a project in order to create a cross-cultural instrument of quality of life assessment: the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL).

Purpose

This paper describes the development of the European Portuguese version of the WHOQOL-100, according to the methodology recommended by the WHO.

Method

Special attention is given to the qualitative pilot study, which led to the development of the Portuguese Facet [Political P], and to the empirical pilot study and the psychometric studies, based on the application of the Portuguese version of the instrument to a sample of 315 subjects from the general population and 289 patients. The assessment protocol also included the Beck Depression Inventory and the Brief Symptom Inventory.

Results

The Portuguese version of WHOQOL-100 showed acceptable internal consistency (α range 0.84–0.94) and test–retest reliability in all domains (r range 0.67–0.86). Discriminant validity was significant for all domains, except in Spirituality. Convergent validity with the Beck Depression Inventory and the Brief Symptom Inventory was satisfactory for most domains.

Conclusion

The WHOQOL showed good psychometric characteristics, suggesting that the Portuguese version of WHOQOL is valid and reliable in the assessment of quality of life in Portugal.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the WHOQOL Group, particularly Professors Shekhar Saxena, Somnath Chatterji, Mark Van Ommeren and Debashish Chattopadhyay.

A very special thanks is due to Prof. Marcelo Fleck, coordinator of the Brazilian WHOQOL Center, consultant of the WHOQOL Project of European Portuguese, for all the support given during the various phases of this process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, Apartado 6153, 3001-802, Coimbra, Portugal

    Maria Cristina Canavarro, Mário R. Simões, Daniel Rijo & Tiago Paredes

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Adriano Vaz Serra & Manuel João Quartilho

  3. (FCT—SFRH/BD/19126/2004), Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, Apartado 6153, 3001-802, Coimbra, Portugal

    Marco Pereira

  4. (FCT—SFRH/BD/21584/2005), Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, Apartado 6153, 3001-802, Coimbra, Portugal

    Sofia Gameiro

  5. Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Luís Quintais

  6. Portuguese Association of Cerebral Palsy (NRC-APPC), Coimbra, Portugal

    Carlos Carona

  7. (FCT—SFRH/BD/32380/2006), Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, Apartado 6153, 3001-802, Coimbra, Portugal

    Tiago Paredes

Authors
  1. Maria Cristina Canavarro
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  2. Adriano Vaz Serra
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  3. Mário R. Simões
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  4. Daniel Rijo
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  5. Marco Pereira
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  6. Sofia Gameiro
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  7. Manuel João Quartilho
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  8. Luís Quintais
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  9. Carlos Carona
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  10. Tiago Paredes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Cristina Canavarro.

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Canavarro, M.C., Serra, A.V., Simões, M.R. et al. Development and Psychometric Properties of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument (WHOQOL-100) in Portugal. Int.J. Behav. Med. 16, 116–124 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-008-9024-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-008-9024-2

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