EVALUATION OF THE DIABETES QUALITY-OF-LIFE QUESTIONNAIRE IN A SPANISHPOPULATION - AN EXPERIENCE OF TRANSLATION AND RELIABILITY

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of a version of the diabetes quality-of-life (DQOL) questionnaire adapted and translat ed into Spanish. The DQOL questionnaire consists of 46 items and is no t sensitive to treatment regimens or self-monitoring; therefore, the i nstrument might be useful to a wide range of patients with diabetes wh o use different methods of diabetes management. 105 patients with insu lin-dependent diabetes mellitus volunteered to complete the questionna ire. This Spanish version of the DQOL achieved a high global internal consistency (alpha = 0.90), and some outcome similarities, such as mor e favourable scores among younger patients (up to 21 years of age) and adult male patients compared with the original DQOL. These data show that the Spanish version of the DQOL has a high internal consistency ( reliability) and might be a useful comparable tool to evaluate quality of life in Spanish-speaking patients with diabetes mellitus.