Evaluation of the Greek TranQol: a novel questionnaire for measuring quality of life in transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients.

Abstract

The aim of our study was to evaluate the Greek version of the transfusion-dependent quality of life (TranQol) questionnaire and report our experience of using this novel disease-specific quality of life (QoL) measure in patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT). The TranQol and SF-36v2 questionnaires were administered to 94 adult TDT patients with a mean age of 32.1years (SD=7, range=19-58), recruited from the Adult Thalassemia Unit of Hippokration General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Greece. The TranQol was evaluated in terms of construct validity, reliability, and responsiveness. There was a moderately strong correlation between the TranQol summary and both the SF-36v2 physical and mental component summaries (r=0.4, p<0.001 and r=0.5, p<0.001, respectively). There was also a moderately strong correlation between the physical health scale of TranQol and the relevant SF-36v2 scales, including physical functioning (r=0.4, p<0.001), role-physical (r=0.6, p<0.001), and bodily pain (r=0.5, p<0.001). TranQol also exhibited good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient=0.9) and excellent test-retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient=0.9). The subgroup of patients that reported a better QoL 1week after transfusion also demonstrated a significant improvement in their TranQol score. These are the first data regarding the administration of the Greek TranQol in a single thalassemia unit. The psychometric properties of the Greek TranQol confirmed it is a valid, reliable, and responsive to change questionnaire, which can be incorporated into future clinical trials.