QUALITY OF LIFE
SCALE
Carol Burckhardt
PhD
This version of the Quality of life
Scale (QOLS) has 16 items rather than the 15 found in the
original Flanagan version. Item #16, “independence, doing for
yourself” was added after a qualitative study indicated that the
instrument had content validity in chronic illness groups but
that it needed an item that reflected the importance to these
people of remaining independent and able to care for
themselves.
The instrument is scored by summing
the items to make a total score. Subjects should be encouraged
to fill out every item even if they are not currently engaged in
it. (e.g. they can be satisfied even if they do not currently
participate in organizations; or they can be satisfied about not
having children.) Missing data can be treated by entering the
mean score for an item.
If you wish to compare scores in
your groups with any scores that have been published, please be
aware that early Burckhardt references used the 15 item scale.
More recent publications use the 16 item scale. A higher score
indicates better quality of life.
References
Burckhardt CS, Wood SL, Schultz AA, Ziebarth DM (1989). Quality
of life of adults with chronic illness: A psychometric study.
Research in Nursing and Health, 12, 347-354.
Burckhardt CS, Clark SR, Bennett RM (1993). Fibromyalgia and
quality of life: A comparative analysis. Journal of
Rheumatology, 20, 475-479.
Burckhardt CS & Anderson KL (2003). The
Quality of Life Scale (QOLS): Reliability, Validity and
Utilization. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 1:60 (23
October 2003).
Burckhardt CS, Anderson KL Archenholtz B,
Hägg O (2003). The Flanagan Quality of Life Scale (QOLS):
Further evidence of validity. Health and Quality of Life
Outcomes, 1:59 (23 October 2003).
Flanagan JC (1978). A research approach to
improving our quality of life. American Psychologist, 33,
138-147.
Flanagan JC (1982). Measurement of quality of life: Current
state of the art. Archives of Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation, 63, 56-59.
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