MEASURING THE QUALITY-OF-LIFE OF WOMEN WITH FIBROMYALGIA - A HEBREW VERSION OF THE QUALITY-OF-LIFE SCALE

Objectives: To validate a translated version of the Quality of Life Sc ale [QOLS] to be used by Hebrew speaking populations. Methods: The QOL S was translated into Hebrew and its reliability and validity were stu died. The Hebrew version [QOLS-H] was administered to 100 women with F ibromyalgia [FM] along with the Hebrew version Fibromyalgia Impact Que stionnaire [FIQ-H]. All the subjects were asked about the presence and severity [Visual Analog Scale [VAS]I of FM symptoms [pain, fatigue, a nxiety, etc.]; a count of 18 tender points was conducted by thumb palp ation and tenderness thresholds were assessed by dolorimetry. Test-ret est reliability was assessed using Pearson correlations. Internal cons istency was evaluated by Cronbach's alpha coefficient of reliability. Construct validity was tested by correlating the QOLS-H items with mea sures of FM symptom severity, count of tender points, tenderness thres hold and items of FIQ. Results: The test-retest reliability was R = 0. 95, and the Cronbach's alpha was 0.92 at time I, and 0.90 at time 2. S ignificant moderate to high correlations were obtained between QOLS-H items and FIQ-H items, severity symptoms, point count and tenderness t hreshold. A summary score of the 16 QOL-H items was computed and it wa s found to be highly correlated with all symptoms such as pain [R -0.5 0], fatigue [R -0.54], anxiety [R -0.64]; as well as with point count [R -0.37], tenderness threshold IR 0.50], and physical functioning as measured by 10 items from the FIQ-H [R = -0.62]. Conclusion: The QOLS- H is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the quality of life in Israeli women with FM.