Hawthorne Graeme, Davidson Natasha, Quinn Kathryn, McCrate Farah, Winkler Ines, Lucas Ramona, Kilian Reinhold, Molzahn Anita
Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Qual Life Res. 2006 Sep;15(7):1257-70. doi: 10.1007/s11136-006-0062-4. Epub 2006 Sep 14.
Multi-centre and cross-cultural research require the use of common protocols if the results are to be either pooled or compared. All too often adherence to protocols is not discussed in reports and where it is reported poor adherence is frequently noted. This paper discusses the use of international guidelines developed by WHOQOL Field Centres to conduct and report focus groups aimed at eliciting key concepts of quality of life among older adults. This was the first step in the development of the WHOQOL-OLD instrument. Although there was overall adherence to the agreed guidelines, there were some differences in the level of reporting, even after participating Field Centres had the opportunity to explain their reports. The reasons for these discrepancies are reported. It is concluded that because of local situations, it is difficult to achieve identical implementation of multi-centre cross-cultural protocols and that the highest standards of auditing are required if findings are to be compared. Suggestions for how such protocols can be improved are given.
多中心和跨文化研究若要汇总或比较结果，就需要使用通用方案。在报告中，往往不会讨论对方案的遵守情况，而即便报告了这一情况，也常常会指出遵守情况不佳。本文讨论了世界卫生组织生活质量研究中心制定的国际准则在开展和报告焦点小组方面的应用，这些焦点小组旨在引出老年人生活质量的关键概念。这是世界卫生组织老年生活质量量表（WHOQOL-OLD）开发的第一步。尽管总体上遵守了商定的准则，但即便参与的研究中心有机会解释其报告，报告水平仍存在一些差异。文中报告了这些差异产生的原因。得出的结论是，由于当地情况，多中心跨文化方案难以实现完全相同的实施，若要比较研究结果，就需要最高标准的审核。文中还给出了如何改进此类方案的建议。
