Published in

F1000Research, AMRC Open Research, (4), p. 3, 2022

DOI: 10.12688/amrcopenres.13030.1

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Measuring quality of life in autistic adults: the reliability and validity of the Brief Version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life scale

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Red circle
Preprint: archiving forbidden
Red circle
Postprint: archiving forbidden
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Background: Measurement of the Quality of Life (QoL) of autistic adults is receiving increasing empirical attention. The World Health Organisation (WHO) QoL measure (WHOQoL-BREF) has been utilised in several studies. Autistic adults report significantly lower QoL compared to neurotypical adults across several domains. However, no studies have investigated the suitability of WHOQoL-BREF as a tool to measure the QoL of autistic adults. Methods: This study explored the validity and reliability of WHOQoL-BREF with a mixed methods approach. Quantitatively, structural validity was explored by an exploratory factor analysis of WHOQoL-BREF data from 352 autistic adults aged 18-80 years. Qualitatively, four discussion groups (n=20 autistic people) were conducted to explore the face validity of the items of WHOQoL-BREF. Results: The five factor structure was conceptually similar to the WHO formulation of QoL, with adequate to good internal consistency of domains; however, some items loaded in an unexpected way. The reasons for these unexpected loadings were explored in the transcripts from the discussion groups. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the WHOQoL-BREF has acceptable validity and reliability for use with autistic adults; however caution is needed when interpreting data from the social domain and some other items