Abstract
BackgroundPerception of quality of life may differ depending on the perspective. The aim of the study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the 'TOlerability and quality Of Life' (TOOL) questionnaire, a specific self-rated instrument to evaluate the impact of side effects of antipsychotic drugs on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The questionnaire consists of eight items answered on a four-point Likert scale.MethodsA psychometric study was conducted with clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder under antipsychotic treatment. The translation and cultural adaptation of the questionnaire was performed according to international standards. Internal consistency using the Cronbach α coefficient and test-retest reliability using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the reliability of the instrument. Patients completed generic and specific measures of quality of life and clinical severity.ResultsA total of 238 patients were analysed, with a mean age of 42 years (SD 10.9). The mean completion time was 4.9 min (SD 4.4). Internal consistency and intraclass correlation coefficient were adequate (Cronbach α = 0.757 and ICC = 0.90). Factorial analysis showed a unidimensional structure (a single eigenvalue >1, accounting for 39.1% of variance). Significant Spearman's rank correlations between the TOOL and both generic and specific measures were found. The questionnaire was able to discriminate among the Clinical Global Impression - Severity scores (Mann-Whitney U test, P < 0.001).ConclusionsThe TOOL questionnaire shows appropriate feasibility, reliability, and discriminative performance as a patient-reported outcome. TOOL constitutes a valuable addition to measure the impact of adverse events of antipsychotic drugs from the patient perspective.
Highlights
Perception of quality of life may differ depending on the perspective
The Spanish version was reviewed by a panel of experts
The Spanish version of the TOlerability and quality Of Life’ (TOOL) questionnaire was ready for validation (Additional file 1)
Summary
Perception of quality of life may differ depending on the perspective. The aim of the study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the ‘TOlerability and quality Of Life’ (TOOL) questionnaire, a specific self-rated instrument to evaluate the impact of side effects of antipsychotic drugs on healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL). Weight gain, extrapyramidal symptoms, sexual dysfunction, or sedation are quite common side effects among patients under antipsychotic treatment [4]. The occurrence of these symptoms may affect patient adherence. The systematic assessment of patient perspective may provide valuable information that could be lost when relying only on clinical evaluation. In chronic conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, there are advantages in using patient-reported measures to understand complex needs and improve alliances between patients and clinicians [8]. The importance of involving patients in their own healthcare, and of patient-reported assessments, is increasingly recognised [9]
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