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Reliability and Validity of the World Health Organization Quality of Life: Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) in a Homeless Substance Dependent Veteran Population

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Abstract

With the high number of homeless, there is a critical need for rapid and accurate assessment of quality of life to assess program outcomes. The World Health Organization’s WHOQOL-100 has demonstrated promise in accurately assessing quality-of-life in this population. However, its length may make large scale use impractical for working with a homeless population. The World Health Organization Quality of Life—Brief version (WHOQOL-BREF), though providing a shorter instrument and being, theoretically, more manageable has not been evaluated for use with homeless individuals. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-BREF in 389 homeless veterans. Adequate internal consistency for all domains was found and validity for each domain was supported using the Personality Assessment Inventory. The WHOQOL-BREF provides a reliable, valid, and brief assessment of quality-of-life. Due to the length of the instrument and the domains covered, it could have great utility in the assessment of homeless populations with multiple problem domains.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded through a VA VISN 17 Start-Up Grant and VA RR&D MERIT #D6192-R

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. VA North Texas Health Care System, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX, USA

    Elizabeth A. Garcia-Rea & James P. LePage

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  1. Elizabeth A. Garcia-Rea
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  2. James P. LePage
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Correspondence to James P. LePage.

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Garcia-Rea, E.A., LePage, J.P. Reliability and Validity of the World Health Organization Quality of Life: Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) in a Homeless Substance Dependent Veteran Population. Soc Indic Res 99, 333–340 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9583-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9583-x

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