Document Type : Special Articles

Authors

• Mojtaba Mahmoodi ¹
• Anahid Safari ²
• Mehrdad Vossoughi ³
• Fatemeh Golbon-Haghighi ⁴
• Maliheh Kamali-Sarvestani ⁴
• Haleh Ghaem ⁵
• Afshin Borhani-Haghighi ⁶

¹ Health Policy Research Center AND School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

² Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Kazeroon Branch, Kazeroon, Iran.

³ Department of Dental Public Health, School of Dentistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

⁴ Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

⁵ Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

⁶ Clinical Neurology Research Center AND Department of Neurology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

Background: The aim was to assess the reliability and the validity of the translated version of the stroke specific quality of life (SS-QOL) questionnaire in Iranian post-stroke patients.Methods: This project was performed at the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, between 12  April  2010  and  24  February 2011.  The  English version of the SS-QOL was translated into Persian by “forward-backward” translation, cognitive inquiring and cultural adaptation process. The reliability and internal consistency were measured by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Validity was assessed using convergent and divergent validity through Spearman’s correlation coefficient.Results: Our study included 117 post-stroke patients, consisting of 57 (48.7%) men and 60 (51.3%) women. The mean age of the patients was 81.60 ± 7.52 (range 60-88) years. The Persian version of the SS-QOL proved reliable (Cronbach’s α = 0.96). Internal consistency was excellent for both demographic and patients’ clinical characteristics (Cronbach’s α ≥ 0.70). The scaling success rates were 100% for convergent validity of each scale. Divergent validity for all 12 scales was considered acceptable, whereas each scale had a 100% scaling success rate for convergent validity.Conclusion: The Persian version of SS-QOL should be mentioned as a noteworthy instrument to specify different  aspects  of  health  related  QOL  of  patients suffering stroke and hence that clinicians, researchers and epidemiologist can exploit it trustfully.