Journal of Korean Gerontological Nursing 2007;9(1):76-84.
중ㆍ노년기 말기환자 삶의 질 측정도구의 타당도 및 신뢰도 검증
김수현, 정복례, 서순림
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of the study was to test the validity and reliability of the Quality of Life at the End-of-Life instrument (QUAL-E),
developed by Steinhauser, Bosworth, Clipp, McNelly, Christakis, Parker, and Tulsky (2002), for Korean patients.
Method: Data were collected from 76 patients with terminal illnesses who were living in the community between November 1 and December 15 in 2006.
QUAL-E which had been translated into Korean was tested for psychometric properties using factor analysis with principal component analysis and varimax rotation.
Result Factor analysis yielded a final instrument with 25 items in five distinct domains: physical symptoms (four items), social relationships
(four items), preparation (four items), control (four items), and completion (three items). These five factors explained 69% of the total
variance. Reliability estimates showed good inter-item reliability (.30-.70), item-factor correlation (.42-.76), and overall Cronbach alpha coefficient (.84).
Conclusion The results revealed that the QUAL-E is a sound instrument in evaluating quality of life for Korean patients with terminal illnesses.
Further study is warranted to test convergent and divergent validity of the instrument and to develop items which reflect cultural aspects of
Korean patients with terminal illnesses.