[The VQ11, a short health-related quality of life questionnaire for routine practice in COPD patients]

The management of COPD aims to improve integrated indices such as health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Experts recommend repeated and methodical assessment of HRQoL, particularly by the use of questionnaires. Though these tools give pertinent information for groups of patients, they have limitations in describing the progress in one patient or indicating the prognosis. The purpose of this study is to validate a brief, self-administered HRQoL questionnaire, designed for the individual follow-up of COPD patients over a period of 3-6 months.

Following an initial validation of the contents and a review of the literature, 166 COPD patients completed an experimental version of a questionnaire including 24 items, three theoretical components (functional, psychological and relational) and 11 sub-dimensions.

Confirmative factor analyses show a hierarchical model in respect of the current criteria (chi(2)=62.042; dl=41; ratio chi(2)/ddl=1.51; p<0.02; CFI=0.955; TLI=0.939; RMSEA=0.056; SRMR=0.054) composed of 11 items (one by a theoretical sub-dimension) distributed in three components (functional=3; psychological=4; relational=4).

The questionnaire obtained, named VQ11, possesses an internal validation which satisfies international psychometric standards. It remains necessary to demonstrate whether the questionnaire satisfies the criteria of external validation and that it reveals thresholds of clinical change.