Acceptability, validity and reliability of the Turkish QUALIOST(®) in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

The quality-of-life questionnaire in osteoporosis (QUALIOST(®)) is commonly used and accepted generic instrument in osteoporosis. This study aimed to translate QUALIOST(®) into Turkish language and assess its reliability, validity and acceptability in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO). After the questionnaire was translated into Turkish, it was administered to 110 with PMO. The reliability studies were assessed by test-retest reliability (ICC) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). Construct validity was assessed by using correlating QUALIOST(®) with SF-36. Results showed that ICC values were 0.92, 0.91 and 0.92, for physical domain, emotional domain and total QUALIOST(®) scores, respectively. Similarly, Cronbach's alpha was acceptable in all domains (0.85, 0.83 and 0.84, respectively). Significant moderate-to-high correlations were obtained between QUALIOST(®) and SF-36 dimensions (r value between -0.39 and -0.72, p < 0.001). Also, there were moderate-high correlations between the domains of questionnaire and pain intensity and disease duration (r value between 0.35 and 0.45, p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study, which reported firstly psychometric properties and usefulness of the Turkish QUALIOST(®), showed that it is a potentially useful measure with a high validity and reliability standards.