VA Connecticut Health System West Haven Campus, VA Connecticut Healthcare System West Haven VA Medical Center, West Haven, CT, USA.
Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
J Gen Intern Med. 2023 Jul;38(9):2076-2081. doi: 10.1007/s11606-023-08132-4. Epub 2023 Mar 27.
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is in need of population health approaches to address overweight and obesity-related diseases. BMI serves as a simple, blunt metric to monitor these efforts. However, emerging research has demonstrated that healthcare weigh-ins contribute to weight stigma which paraodoxically is associated with weight gain. An alternative metric is urgently needed for VHA's MOVE!® Weight Management Program and other eating- and weight-related services.
To develop a brief population health metric called the Weight and Eating Quality of Life (WE-QOL) Scale and assess its psychometric properties.
The literature was reviewed for relevant weight- and eating-specific QOL measures to identify unique and overlapping constructs. Eight items, representing these constructs, comprised the new brief WE-QOL Scale. A survey study was conducted with data analyzed in STATA.
A total of 213 consecutively evaluated US Veterans attending an orientation session for MOVE!.
The WE-QOL Scale, as well as a widely used generic health-related QOL measure, the European Quality of Life Screener (EQ-ED-5L), and relevant validated measures.
WE-QOL descriptive findings demonstrated severe impacts on physical activity and physical discomfort for approximately 30% of the sample each; moderate-to-severe impacts on daily responsibilities, emotional distress, and shame and guilt for one-third of the sample each and public distress for one-fourth of the sample. The WE-QOL Scale performed as well as, or better than, the EQ-ED-5L for internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91) and associations to relevant constructs (BMI, eating pathology, and physical activity).
Findings support the reliability and construct validity of the WE-QOL Scale. The WE-QOL Scale has potential to provide a standardized population health metric that could be used as a screening tool and clinical reminder to identify, refer, and assess outcomes for Veterans with weight and disordered eating issues. Future research could be targeted at using this measure to improve patient care and quality of care.
退伍军人健康管理局（VHA）需要采用人群健康方法来解决超重和肥胖相关疾病。BMI 作为一种简单、直接的衡量标准，可用于监测这些努力。然而，新的研究表明，医疗称重会导致体重耻辱感，而这种耻辱感与体重增加呈正相关。VHA 的 MOVE！®体重管理计划和其他饮食及体重相关服务迫切需要一种替代衡量标准。
开发一种名为体重和饮食生活质量（WE-QOL）量表的简短人群健康衡量标准，并评估其心理测量特性。
对相关体重和饮食特定生活质量措施的文献进行了回顾，以确定独特和重叠的结构。新的简短 WE-QOL 量表由 8 个代表这些结构的项目组成。一项调查研究在美国退伍军人事务部接受 MOVE！®定向课程的 213 名连续评估患者中进行，数据在 STATA 中进行分析。
共有 213 名连续评估的美国退伍军人参加了 MOVE！®的定向课程。
WE-QOL 量表，以及广泛使用的通用健康相关生活质量量表，即欧洲生活质量筛选器（EQ-ED-5L），以及相关验证的量表。
WE-QOL 描述性发现表明，大约 30%的样本中，身体活动和身体不适有严重影响；大约三分之一的样本中，日常责任、情绪困扰、羞耻和内疚有中度至重度影响，大约四分之一的样本中，公众困扰有中度至重度影响。WE-QOL 量表的内部一致性（Cronbach's alpha=0.91）和与相关结构的关联（BMI、饮食病理学和身体活动）与 EQ-ED-5L 一样好，甚至更好。
研究结果支持 WE-QOL 量表的可靠性和结构有效性。WE-QOL 量表有可能提供一种标准化的人群健康衡量标准，可作为一种筛查工具和临床提醒，用于识别、转介和评估退伍军人的体重和饮食障碍问题。未来的研究可以针对使用该措施来改善患者护理和护理质量。
