Measuring Population Health in a Positive Way: The “My Quality Of Life” Questionnaire

Abstract

Introduction : Changes in the concept of population health require new instruments. Population health is not an easy concept to measure, as the concept and its considered constructs have shown little consensus over the years. Recently, the definition of health has been broadened and focuses more on the individual’s ‘ability to adapt’. “Classic” dimensions, such as physical, mental and social health, are still included, but additional emphasis is put on a person’s daily functioning, sense of purpose and quality of life. Insight is needed into this so-called ‘positive health’ at population level, as many healthcare reform efforts shift toward population-based policies. However, despite the need by population focused healthcare initiatives, not many instruments exist to measure the new dimensions of positive health. A potential instrument that could fill this gap is the MijnKwaliteitVanLeven.nl (“MyQualityOfLife.nl”, MKVL) survey. This study aims whether the MKVL survey can be used to measure population health. Method : Although the MKVL was not developed for positive health, it includes the participants’ views regarding their own life, quality of life and their experiences regarding the care and support they receive. Participants go to www.mijnkwaliteitvanleven.nl, which is available to everyone, and fill out the application form. Once participants apply, they receive an email with an invitation to fill out either the long or the short version of the survey. If they have applied and filled out survey at least once, then they receive two additional email invitations per year. First, the face validity of the survey will be assessed using a group of five experts. Input provided by experts will be used to exclude irrelevant questions. Second, relevant questions will be entered into a factor analysis to determine underlying constructs. Third, reliability will be assessed by internal consistency as calculated by Cronbach’s alpha per factor as identified by the above factor analysis. Additionally, corrected item-total correlations will be used to assess convergent validity and distributions of each item will be used to check for floor and/or ceiling effects. Results : The study population consisted out of 13,911 participants, consisting out of mostly women, with a chronic condition and born in the Netherlands. During the conference the background, objectives, design and methods, and results of the study will be discussed in further detail. Discussion and conclusion : It is of interest to identify whether and how the MKVL survey relates to other (positive) health surveys and if the MKVL shows gaps that can potentially be addressed by these.