Psychometric properties of the Czech version of the brief Older People Quality of Life questionnaire (OPQoL-brief).

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the established interventions used for older adults, it is appropriate to use validated questionnaires for quality-of-life assessment. For older people, it is suitable to use specific questionnaires designed for old age and aging, with a lower number of questions. The aim of this research was to verify the psychometric properties of the Czech version of the OPQoL-brief questionnaire for seniors living in home environment in a community so that it can be used within the Czech Republic.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed on older adults in the Moravian-Silesian Region living at home. The study included 954 senior citizens (≥ 65 years, cognitively intact) (without diagnosed dementia, able to sign an informed consent). To test the psychometric properties of the created questionnaire, we tested the validity (construct validity, discriminant validity, convergent validity) and reliability (internal consistency, test-retest reliability).

RESULTS: The single-factor model of the OPQoL-brief scale (CFI = 0.971, TLI = 0.959, RMSEA = 0.061, SRMR = 0.034, GFI = 0.960) was confirmed, for which excellent reliability was found (α = 0.921, ICC = 0.904). An inter-item correlation exceeding 0.5 was found for all items. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between the overall score of OPQoL-brief and the scales measuring depression (r =  - 0.520; p < 0.001), anxiety (r =  - 0.355; p < 0.001), sense of coherence (r = 0.427; p < 0.001), and self-esteem (r = 0.428; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: The results of our research revealed that the shorter Czech version of the OPQoL-brief questionnaire has appropriate reliability and validity and can be recommended for both health and social services to assess the quality of life of senior citizens in a community.