DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORLD-HEALTH-ORGANIZATION WHOQOL-BREF QUALITY-OF-LIFE ASSESSMENT

Background. The paper reports on the development of the WHOQOL-BREF, a n abbreviated version of the WHOQOL-100 quality of life assessment. Me thod. The WHOQOL-BREF was derived from data collected using the WHOQOL -100. It produces scores for four domains related to quality of life: physical health, psychological, social relationships and environment. It also includes one facet on overall quality of life and general heal th. Results. Domain scores produced by the WHOQOL-BREF correlate highl y (0.89 or above) with WHOQOL-100 domain scores (calculated on a four domain structure). WHOQOL-BREF domain scores demonstrated good discrim inant validity, content validity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Conclusion. These data suggest that the WHOQOL-BREF prov ides a valid and reliable alternative to the assessment of domain prof iles using the WHOQOL-100. It is envisaged that the WHOQOL-BREF will b e most useful in studies that require a brief assessment of quality of life, for example, in large epidemiological studies and clinical tria ls where quality of life is of interest. In addition, the WHOQOL-BREF may be of use to health professionals in the assessment and evaluation of treatment efficacy.