The Comparison of WHOQOL-BREF with Disease Specific Heath Related Quality of Life Questionnaire in Irritable Bowel Syndrome

• Main Authors: Raika Jamali, Mohammad Biglari
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2015-11-01
• Series: Acta Medica Iranica
• Subjects: Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Primary Health Care; Quality of Life; Questionnaires
• Online Access: https://acta.tums.ac.ir/index.php/acta/article/view/5217

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders particularly affecting the quality of life (QOL). Evaluating QOL in IBS patients is a valuable method of defining a psychobiological pattern of disease. Various disease specific and general instruments are now available to measure health-related QOL (HRQOL) in IBS patients. Though, no comparison has been made between these tools especially in non-western countries. We aimed to compare QOL measures between two specific and general QOL questionnaires in a sample of Iranian IBS patients. A total of 250 IBS patients were diagnosed based on Rome III criteria (mean age 29.6 ± 9.6 years). HRQOL was assessed using disease specific quality of life for IBS (IBS-QOL) and generic World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaires. Patients also completed Speilberger`s “State/Trait Anxiety Inventory” and “Beck Depression Inventory-II” for the evaluation of anxiety and depression symptoms. The severity of symptoms was independently associated with HRQOL in patients using WHOQOL-BREF and IBS-QOL (r = -0.48 and -0.39 respectively, P < 0.001). In linear regression analysis, a strong correlation was observed between the HRQOL scores of IBS-QOL and the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires (standard β = 0.86 (95%CI: 1.15 - 1.44), P value < 0.001). Controlling for anxiety and depression symptoms did not influence the strength of observed correlation. The WHOQOL-BREF is a psychometrically sound, rapid and convenient instrument whose HRQOL measure is as valid and accurate as the disease-specific IBS-QOL questionnaire. It seems reasonable to use the WHOQOL-BREF alongside the IBS-QOL.