A NEW INSTRUMENT TO ASSESS THE LONG-TERM QUALITY-OF-LIFE EFFECTS FROMMIGRAINE - DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOMETRIC TESTING OF THE MSQOL

Quality of life is important to persons experiencing migraine. This st udy discusses the development of a migraine-specific quality-of-life m easure (MSQOL). Participants, pants, who included migraineurs from bot h tertiary care centers and the community, were screened using the Int ernational Headache Society migraine criteria prior to enrollment. Int ernal consistency of the MSQOL was high (alpha 0.92). Reproducibility over an average of 24 days was high (intraclass correlation 0.90). Con struct validity was determined by convergent validity and known groups validity. The MSQOL was compared to two other frequently used health status questionnaires; results indicate that the MSQOL more closely re sembles well-being than functional status. Results also indicate that migraineurs with more symptoms, medical appointments per year to treat migraines, and migraine episodes per year have a significantly worse quality of life. The MSQOL proved valid and reliable as a self-adminis tered measure and will be a useful tool in clinical migraine research. The information gained from its use in the clinical environment shoul d provide important additional information about the impact of migrain e on quality of life and the potential benefits of therapeutic interve ntions.