Validation of the Greek version of the Severe Respiratory Insufficiency questionnaire

The Severe Respiratory Insufficiency (SRI) questionnaire is a multidimensional, well-validated tool for the assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with severe chronic respiratory failure (CRF), due to a variety of underlying disorders. The aim of this study was to validate the SRI questionnaire in the Greek language (Gr-SRI).

Reliability and validity analyses were performed for the Gr-SRI using data of 136 consecutive patients with CRF, due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or non-COPD respiratory diseases (kyphoscoliosis, obesity-hypoventilation, and post-tuberculosis sequelae). Sixty-three patients (46.3 %) were under long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), while 73 (53.7 %) under long-term non-invasive mechanical ventilation at home (HMV), either with or without LTOT.

Cronbach's alpha was high for the Summary Score of the SRI (0.86) showing high internal consistency, comparable to that of the original German version. The results of the principal component analysis on the SRI Summary Score produced a one-factor construct with a variance of 54 %, which confirmed a single Summary Score for the Greek SRI also. The highest and the lowest scores were detected in Respiratory Complaints and Physical Functioning subscales, respectively. The SRI was capable of discriminating COPD patients and non-COPD patients, with COPD patients having lower mean SRI scores, but no difference was observed between COPD patients under HMV or LTOT.

Greek SRI has high psychometric properties qualifying its use for HRQL assessment in patients with CRF. HIPPOKRATIA 2017, 21(4): 186-190.