A pilot study of psychometric characteristics of questionnaires SF-36v2 and ESRD-SCL-TM measuring health related quality of life in kidney transplant recipients

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess psychometric characteristics of Slovenian versions of two self-administered questionnaires of health related quality of life SF-36v2® and ESRD-SCL-TM in kidney transplant patients. Fifty eight stable kidney transplant recipients from the only transplant centre in Slovenia responded to the questionnaires two times with 14–21 days in between. At the same time health measures related to kidney functioning and general health were checked. The results show acceptable internal reliability of all dimensions of the two questionnaires. Dimensions of both questionnaires that measure similar constructs correlate appropriately to support the construct validity as well as with expected demographic (gender, education) and clinical variables (haemoglobin, creatinine, number of medications taken daily). Slovenian versions of SF-36v2® and ESRD-SCL-TM showed satisfactory results in measuring health related quality of life in kidney transplant patients with the exception of test-retest reliability in SF-36v2®.

Keywords

• health related quality of life
• kidney transplantation
• SF-36v2®
• ESRD-SCL-TM
• test construction