The ¿WHOQoL-5¿ is not an `official¿ version of the World Health Organization¿s Quality of Life (WHOQOL) measure
Szilvia Geyh, Swiss Paraplegic Research
14 July 2015
In our study, which compares the cross-cultural validity of four short quality of life (QoL) scales, we have used five selected items of the WHOQOL-BREF. We named this selection of items the WHOQoL-5 and described it as one of the four scales in our comparison. Based on the feedback of our readers, we have now realized that this notation is misleading, since it can be interpreted as a new `official¿ short version of the WHOQOL-BREF authorized by the WHO. This is explicitly not the case. To avoid further confusion, we suggest not using this terminology in the future.
Additionally, the references mentioned in the description of the five WHOQOL-items (see below) do not contain explicit information about quality of life measurement, but report on the development process of ICF Core Sets for various health conditions and in different health care settings. Although the references relate to research projects, which have included this selection of items, they do not report any results from QoL measurement.
¿The 5-item version has been used in different international WHO collaboration projects since 2002 [35,68,69], but has not been psychometrically tested previously in this format.¿
35. Biering-Sorensen F, Scheuringer M, Baumberger M, Charlifue SW, Post MW, Montero F, Kostanjsek N, Stucki G: Developing core sets for persons with spinal cord injuries based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a way to specify functioning. Spinal Cord 2006, 44:541-546.
68. Cieza A, Ewert T, Ustun TB, Chatterji S, Kostanjsek N, Stucki G: Development of ICF Core Sets for patients with chronic conditions. J Rehabil Med 2004, 9-11.
69. Grill E, Ewert T, Chatterji S, Kostanjsek N, Stucki G: ICF Core Sets development for the acute hospital and early post-acute rehabilitation facilities. Disabil Rehabil 2005, 27:361-366.
The ¿WHOQoL-5¿ is not an `official¿ version of the World Health Organization¿s Quality of Life (WHOQOL) measure
14 July 2015
In our study, which compares the cross-cultural validity of four short quality of life (QoL) scales, we have used five selected items of the WHOQOL-BREF. We named this selection of items the WHOQoL-5 and described it as one of the four scales in our comparison. Based on the feedback of our readers, we have now realized that this notation is misleading, since it can be interpreted as a new `official¿ short version of the WHOQOL-BREF authorized by the WHO. This is explicitly not the case. To avoid further confusion, we suggest not using this terminology in the future.
Additionally, the references mentioned in the description of the five WHOQOL-items (see below) do not contain explicit information about quality of life measurement, but report on the development process of ICF Core Sets for various health conditions and in different health care settings. Although the references relate to research projects, which have included this selection of items, they do not report any results from QoL measurement.
¿The 5-item version has been used in different international WHO collaboration projects since 2002 [35,68,69], but has not been psychometrically tested previously in this format.¿
35. Biering-Sorensen F, Scheuringer M, Baumberger M, Charlifue SW, Post MW, Montero F, Kostanjsek N, Stucki G: Developing core sets for persons with spinal cord injuries based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a way to specify functioning. Spinal Cord 2006, 44:541-546.
68. Cieza A, Ewert T, Ustun TB, Chatterji S, Kostanjsek N, Stucki G: Development of ICF Core Sets for patients with chronic conditions. J Rehabil Med 2004, 9-11.
69. Grill E, Ewert T, Chatterji S, Kostanjsek N, Stucki G: ICF Core Sets development for the acute hospital and early post-acute rehabilitation facilities. Disabil Rehabil 2005, 27:361-366.
Competing interests
I am the first author of the paper.