Tom Wade MD

Today, I review, link to, and embed the WHOQOL-BREF: A 26-item questionnaire assessing four quality-of-life domains.

Here is the Google AI Summary:

The WHOQOL-BREF is a 26-item questionnaire assessing four quality-of-life domains: Physical (7 items), Psychological (6 items), Social (3 items), and Environmental (8 items). Items use a 1–5 Likert scale, with higher scores indicating higher quality of life. Scoring requires reversing items 3, 4, and 26, then transforming domain mean scores to a 0–100 scale. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Domain Structure and Items

The raw scores are calculated by summing the items within each domain: [1, 2, 3]

• Physical Health (7 items): Q3, Q4, Q10, Q15, Q16, Q17, Q18.
• Psychological Health (6 items): Q5, Q6, Q7, Q11, Q19, Q26.
• Social Relationships (3 items): Q20, Q21, Q22.
• Environment (8 items): Q8, Q9, Q12, Q13, Q14, Q23, Q24, Q25.
• Note: Items 1 and 2 are global questions and usually not part of domain calculations. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Scoring Procedure

1. 1. Reverse Scoring: Before analysis, reverse the scores for items Q3, Q4, and Q26.
      • • Formula: \(6 – \text{original score}\) (e.g., a 1 becomes a 5, 2 becomes 4).

   2. Calculate Domain Means: Calculate the mean score of items within each domain.
   3. Transform Scores (0–100): Multiply the mean score by 4 (to match the 4–20 scale of the full WHOQOL-100) or use a formula to transform to a 0–100 scale (typically: \(\frac{\text{Mean} – 1}{4} \times 100\)). [1, 2, 3]

Interpretation

Higher scores on the 0–100 transformed scale reflect a higher quality of life. [1]

• • Physical Raw Range: 7–35
  • Psychological Raw Range: 6–30
  • Social Raw Range: 3–15
  • Environment Raw Range: 8–40 [1]

For detailed guidance, you can refer to the official WHOQOL-BREF documentation from the University of Washington. [1]