MEASURING QUALITY-OF-LIFE - A NEW AND PRACTICAL SURVEY INSTRUMENT

Despite increasing recognition of the importance of measuring the qual ity of life (QOL) of people with severe mental illness, such assessmen ts are seldom carried out because of the lack of an efficient, easy-to -use, and valid measurement instrument. To facilitate the gathering of QOL information from clients in evaluation, program improvement, or o ther efforts, the authors present a new short (24-item) self-administe red questionnaire called the Quality of life Questionnaire (QLQ). The questionnaire assesses subjective QOL in seven areas. Evidence for the reliability and validity of the QLQ is based on data gathered from 97 1 clients with serious mental illness who were receiving publicly fund ed mental health services at the time of the study. The results of a c onfirmatory factor analysis using a random split-half procedure indica ted that a seven-factor solution fit the data well. Scores on the QLQ also correlated significantly with the client's functioning and satisf action with services, providing support for the validity of the QLQ Th e advantages of the QLQ over existing measures include low-cost admini stration and some superior psychometric properties.