This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Researchers find validity among Multiligament Quality of Life questionnaire
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The Multiligament Quality of Life questionnaire demonstrated excellent content validity, reliability and construct validity, according to researchers.
In phase 1 of the study, the researchers mailed 85 patients with multiligament knee injuries a Multiligament Quality of Life (MLQOL) questionnaire comprising 132 items from 11 existing knee questionnaires. Patients were asked to rate the items with regard to importance and frequency on a five-point Likert scale. The researchers then conducted patient focus groups and expert interviews in phase 2 until no further new content was generated for the MLQOL. In phase 3, a preliminary MLQOL, Tegner activity scale, SF-36 and anchor questions were mailed to 99 patients across two centers.
Using interitem and item-to-total correlations, the researchers performed item reduction to generate a final MLQOL instrument, which was tested for internal consistency, test-retest reliability and construct validity.
With 52 items total, the final MLQOL instrument comprised the domains of physical impairments, emotional impairments, activity limitations and societal involvement. Analysis showed none of the domains had any floor-to-ceiling effects, revealing the MLQOL had adequate content validity, according to the researchers.
The researchers found the Cronbach alpha was 0.94 for physical impairments and activity limitations, 0.93 for emotional impairments and 0.91 for societal involvement, whereas interclass correlation coefficient values were 0.89 for physical impairments, 0.86 for emotional impairments, 0.91 for activity impairments and 0.88 for societal involvement.
According to study results, seven of eight a prior hypotheses were satisfied, indicating good construct validity. – by Casey Tingle
Disclosure: Chahal received support through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Master’s Award.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts