Table 2 Characteristics of QoL instruments
From: Instruments used to assess quality of life of older adults in African countries: a scoping review
QOL instrument | No. of studies | No. items | Domains | Reliability | Validity | Languages | Mode of administration | Answer categories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | 8 | • physical; • psychological; • social; • environmental | ND for study cohorts under consideration | ND for study cohorts under consideration | • Xitsonga [18] • Local language Nairobi (Kenya) [15, 16] • Local language in Agincourt (South-Africa) [20] • Kiswahili [19] | 5- point Likert scale | ||
3 | 5 | Satisfaction with life as a whole | Internal reliability: • α = 0.82 [21] • α = 0.81 [22] • α = 0.92 [23] | • Good content validity based on expert meeting [21] | • Wolof [21] • Yoruba [22] • Portugese [23] | • IA [21] • ND [22] • IA/SA [23] | 7-point Likert scale | |
2 | 24 | • sensory abilities • autonomy • past, present, and future activities • social participation • death and dying • intimacy | • Per domain α ranging from 0.72 to 0.84 [24] • ND for this study cohort [25] | • Good factor structure [24] • ND for this study cohort [25] | • Afrikaans [24] • Unknown [25] | • SA/IA [24] • IA [25] | 5-point Likert scale | |
2 | 26 | • physical; • psychological; • social; • environmental | • Internal consistency each domain α > 0.67 [26] • Cronbach α > 0.86 [27] | • Sesotho [26] • Yoruba [27] | • IA [26] • SA/IA [27] | 5- point Likert scale | ||
2 | 36 | • physical health o physical functioning o physical role limitation o bodily pain o general health • mental health: o vitality o social functioning, o role limitation due to emotional problems o mental health | • Unknown [28] | • IA [28] | Mix of 5 / 3 – point Likert scale and yes/no answers | |||
SF-12 [30] | 1 | 12 | • physical health o physical functioning o physical role limitation o bodily pain o general health • mental health: o vitality o social functioning, o role limitation due to emotional problems | Internal reliability: • Physical health α = 0.76 • mental health α = 0.74 [30] | • Construct validity good (differences between subgroups) • convergent validity good: (r > 0.40) [30] | Tunisian [30] | IA [30] | Mix of 5 / 3 – point Likert scale and yes/no answers |
RAND-36 [12] | 1 | 36 | • physical functioning • bodily pain • limitation because of physical health problems • role limitation because of personal or emotional problems • emotional well-being • social functioning, • energy or fatigue • general health perception. | Not assessed (only refer to reliability of SF-36 tested in Ghanese setting where α = 0.82) [12] | Description of adequate face and content validity [12] | Setswana and isiZulu [12] | IA [12] | Mix of 5 / 3 – point Likert scale and yes/no answers |