The adaptations of a quality of life questionnaire for routine use in clinical practice: the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire in cystic fibrosis

The assessment of quality of life (QoL) is to assessment of spirometric measures of lung function. Those patients whose lung function was stable at the time of study and who could attend for a retest within 14 days were asked to complete the questionnaire at a subsequent visit (n=10). The mean interval between visits was 7 days (range 5-14 days). Correlations between spirometry and CRDQ dimensions ranged from -0.003 to 0.426. The fatigue, emotion and mastery dimensions showed high internal consistency and adequate construct validity. In the small number of patients suitable for retest, the results indicated that the dimensions exhibited adequate test-retest reliability. In contrast, low internal consistency was demonstrated for the dyspnoea dimension. The fatigue, emotion and mastery dimensions could be reduced, in terms of their number of items, without a substantial loss in explanatory power. This study suggests that QoL measurement can be made convenient and, thus, more easily accessible for routine clinical assessment. Qual. Life Res. 8:65-71 (C) 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers.