Validation of the stroke-specific quality of life scale (ECVI-38)

Introduction. The stroke-specific quality of life scale (ECVI-38) is the first Spanish-language instrument for evaluating the quality of life in individuals who have survived a stroke. Aim. To evaluate the psychometric properties of the third version of the ECVI-38. Patients and methods. A total of 243 stroke survivors were interviewed 2 months-2 years after the event; 61 of them were surveyed again 7-14 days later and 74 others were interviewed on beginning and ending a two-month period of rehabilitation. Gold standard methods for this type of research were used to evaluate the psychometric properties (acceptability, reliability, validity and sensitivity to change). Results. The ECVI was acceptable, with means close to the medians, a high degree of variability of the sample and a ceiling/floor effect below 20%, except for the odd exception. It displayed good reliability with internal consistence, with a Cronbach's alpha value of between 0.79 and 0.95, and a test-retest with intraclass correlation coefficients between 0.81 and 0.96 It satisfied the validity criteria both in analyses within the scale and in analyses against external criteria: it distinguishes well between different degrees of neurological, emotional and cognitive compromise. Sensitivity to change, at eight weeks after rehabilitation, was between moderate and high in most domains: there were significant differences between the scores for the domains, and the size of the effect was above 0.5. Conclusions. The ECVI-38 is acceptable, valid and reliable for evaluating the spectrum of consequences and recovery from a stroke, and its result changes in proportion to recovery.