[Validation of the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life questionnaire among Chilean older people].

BACKGROUND The WHOQOL-BREF is a generic questionnaire to measure quality of life created by the Study Group on Quality of Life of the World Health Organization. AIM To adapt and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the WHOQOL-BREF instrument in a group of Chilean older subjects living in Metropolitan Santiago. MATERIAL AND METHODS A linguistic-cultural adaptation of the Spanish version of the WHOQOL-BREF was performed and tested in a pilot study. Subsequently, the modified scale was applied to a group of 1186 older women aged 72 ± 8 years and 334 men aged 72 ± 7 years. The psychometric properties such as internal consistency, item-total correlation of responses, and construct validity were evaluated. A confirmatory factor analysis was done to check if the dimensions described in the original version, were evaluated. Analyses were performed with STA-TA statistical software 10.0 and LISREL 8.50. RESULTS Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the dimensions physical health, psychological, social relationships and environment, described by the authors in their original description, were maintained. The instrument had a good internal consistency with a Cronbach alpha of 0.88 for the total scale and ranging from 0.70 to 0.79 in each of the dimensions. CONCLUSIONS The evaluated version of the WHOQOL-BREF has an acceptable reliability and validity, and suggests that it is suitable for the assessment of Quality of Life in elderly people in Chile.