Spanish adaptation of the Quality of Life Index-Spinal Cord Injury version.

STUDY DESIGN

A cross-sectional, validation study.

OBJECTIVES

To (a) develop the Spanish version of the Quality of Life Index-Spinal Cord Injury version (SV-QLI/SCI) and (b) assess its psychometric characteristics among permanent wheelchair users and specifically among those with SCI.

SETTING

Associations of wheelchair users in Mallorca (Spain).

METHODS

Two forward and backward translations of the QLI/SCI into Spanish were carried out separately. Seventy-seven subjects were randomly selected among the members of the associations. They completed the SV-QLI/SCI and validated instruments to measure depression and spinal pain upon recruitment and 14 days later. Assessments included comprehensibility, reproducibility, floor and ceiling effects and correlations between quality of life, pain and depression (Spearman's correlation coefficient). Analyses were repeated excluding data from subjects without SCI.

RESULTS

Three items of the SV-QLI/SCI required rephrasing. Reproducibility was 'almost perfect' for the entire questionnaire and its 'Health and functioning' subscale, 'substantial' for the 'Social and economic' and 'Family' subscales and 'moderate' for the 'Psychological/spiritual' subscale. Floor effect was not observed, and only for the 'Family' subscale >3% of the subjects reached the maximum possible score. The correlation between quality of life and depression was the strongest (r=-0.628). Results were virtually identical in the subsample with SCI.

CONCLUSION

These results support the use of the SV-QLI/SCI among Spanish-speaking wheelchair users.