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Development and validation of a WHOQOL-BREF Taiwanese audio player-assisted interview version for the elderly who use a spoken dialect

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Abstract

A quality of life questionnaire is rarely adapted to an interview mode for people who mainly use spoken language in daily life. In Taiwan, the WHOQOL-BREF (Mandarin Chinese version) has been developed, as a self-administered questionnaire, but it cannot be applied to the majority of the elderly in Taiwan, who speak only Taiwanese (a dialect). This study adopted the audio player-assisted interview mode to develop a Taiwanese version of the WHOQOL-BREF specifically for Taiwanese-speaking elderly people, and followed with examinations of the reliability and validity of this version. Initially, the WHOQOL-BREF (English version) was translated into colloquial Taiwanese, and field tests confirmed the equivalence and appropriateness of the translation. A total of 228 Taiwanese-speaking elderly people were assessed using the Taiwanese interview version, of which 144 subjects were re-assessed two weeks later. Interviewers assessed each subject aided by an audio player on which all the translated WHOQOL-BREF contents were recorded. The Taiwanese interview version of the WHOQOL-BREF, except for the item related to dependence on medication, showed acceptable reliability (internal consistency, corrected item-domain correlation, and test–retest reliability) and validity (criterion-related, convergent, and discriminant validity). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the four-factor model of the Taiwanese interview version, providing evidence for construct validity. The results suggest that the Taiwanese audio player-assisted interview version of the WHOQOL-BREF was reliable and valid in assessing quality of life of elderly Taiwanese.

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Fig. 1 

Abbreviations

WHOQOL:

World Health Organization Quality of Life

BREF:

Abbreviated version

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by research grants from the National Health Research Institute (NHRI-EX95-9504PP and NHRI- EX95-9512PI). The authors would like to thank Ms Vanessa Carson for her assistance in editing this manuscript prior to submission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Monash University - Peninsula Campus, Frankston, VIC, Australia

    Chi-Wen Chien

  2. Institute of Occupation Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jung-Der Wang

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jung-Der Wang

  4. Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Grace Yao

  5. Institute of Cognitive Science, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Ching-Fan Sheu

  6. School of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, 4F, No 17, Shiujou Rd, Taipei, 100, Taiwan

    Ching-Lin Hsieh

  7. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ching-Lin Hsieh

Authors
  1. Chi-Wen Chien
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  2. Jung-Der Wang
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  3. Grace Yao
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  4. Ching-Fan Sheu
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  5. Ching-Lin Hsieh
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Correspondence to Ching-Lin Hsieh.

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Chien, CW., Wang, JD., Yao, G. et al. Development and validation of a WHOQOL-BREF Taiwanese audio player-assisted interview version for the elderly who use a spoken dialect. Qual Life Res 16, 1375–1381 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-007-9236-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-007-9236-y

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