Validation of the WHOQOL-HIV BREF among HIV-infected patients in Taiwan

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the quality of life (QOL) of an individual is essentially defined as the subjective evaluation by such individuals of their own personal life embedded within the context of their culture and values. In the present study, we set out to examine the reliability and validity of the WHOQOL-HIV BREF, a newly-developed, multi-dimensional instrument comprising 31 items designed to assess the QOL of people in Taiwan infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We collected data on a total of 680 people in Taiwan infected with HIV; these study participants were found to have a mean age of 36.26 +/- 10.1 years. Based on our assessment of the psychometric (reliability and validity) properties of the WHOQOL-HIV BREF, we found that the internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) ranged between 0.67 and 0.80 across the six domains of physical health, level of independence, psychological health, spirituality, social relations, and environmental health. We also found that the multi-dimensional instrument demonstrated good content, concurrent, and known-group validity, with the results of the construct validity further revealing that the original six-domain structure model was acceptable. The findings of the present study provide strong evidence in support of both the reliability and validity of the WHOQOL-HIV BREF for widespread use in the assessment of quality of life among HIV-infected patients in Taiwan, with the original factor structure of the instrument having been found to be appropriately valid for patients of a Chinese cultural background. We therefore contribute to the evidence on the cultural relevance of the WHOQOL-HIV BREF as a valid measure for cross-cultural comparative studies on QOL.