Construction of evaluation index system and development of quality of life scale for liver and kidney transplant recipients

Abstract

Objective To Establish an evaluation system of the quality of life for Chinese liver and kidney transplant recipients, and develop a specialized scale to measure the quality of life (QOL) for such recipients preliminarily. Methods By combining subjective and objective methods, this study determined the evaluation system and created items of QOL scale based on literature analysis, Delphi method (expert consultation), interviews, and experience of researchers. Then, a nationwide clinical survey was conducted on 5 Level III Class A hospitals. 454 valid questionnaires were collected, including 153 from liver recipients, and 301 from kidney recipients. Subjective statistical methods such as critical Ratio method, correlation coefficient method, dispersion tendency method, and exploratory factor analysis were used for selection of questionnaire items. Results The study established an evaluation system of QOL for liver and kidney transplant recipients, including 4 primary indexes and 12 secondary indexes, and developed QOL scales that were appropriate for liver and kidney transplant recipients respectively. Conclusions The structure of QOL scale for liver and kidney transplant recipients was basically consistent with theoretical assumption. The QOL scale for patients showed good reliability and validity, therefore, it can fully reflect the quality of their life. Key words: Liver transplantation; Kidney transplantation; Quality of life; Evaluation studies; Scale; Delphi technique; Item selection