Title:Turkish Translation and Cross-Cultural Validity of WHOQOL-HIV Bref Tool
Volume: 22
Issue: 2
Author(s): Okan Derin*, Ahsen Öncül, Hakkı Meriç Türkkan, Nazife Duygu Demirbaş, Özlem Gül, Hüsrev Diktaş, Dilek Yıldız Sevgi and Osman Hayran
Affiliation:
- Epidemiology Doctorate Program, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, İstanbul,
Türkiye
- Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Department, İstanbul Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and
Research Hospital, İstanbul, Türkiye
Keywords:
PLWH, HRQOL, HIV, turkish translation, world health organization, validation studies.
Abstract:
Background: The assessment of health-related quality of life among people living with
HIV (PLWH) has gained increasing importance as it assesses their overall well-being, guides treatment
decisions, and addresses psychosocial challenges, improving their quality of life. This study
focuses on adapting and validating the Turkish version of the WHOQOL-HIV Bref, a tool developed
by the World Health Organization (WHO) to measure health-related quality of life in PLWH.
This adaptation is based on the generic WHOQOL-Bref Turkish and WHOQOL-HIV Bref
inventory.
Methods: In line with WHO guidelines, the tool was translated and tested on 189 PLWH from İstanbul
Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital's HIV outpatient clinic. A variety of
statistical methods were employed to assess content, construct, concurrent, and known-group validity,
as well as internal consistency and reliability.
Results: Participants' median age was 35 years (IQR: 14), with 178(94%) being male. The Turkish
WHOQOL-HIV Bref showed overall satisfactory psychometric properties. Despite limitations
in the spirituality domain, it demonstrated good internal consistency (alpha coefficient: 0.93) and
strong validity across several metrics, including test-retest reliability (ICC: 0.79).
Conclusion: The WHOQOL-HIV BREF in Turkish is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing
the quality of life in Turkish PLWH.
