Development of a refractive error quality of life scale for Thai adults (The REQ-Thai)

Abstract

Objective: To develop a scale for measuring refractive error quality of life (QOL) for Thai adults. Material and Method: The full survey comprised 424 respondents from 5 medical centers in Bangkok and from 3 medical centers in Chiangmai, Songkla and KhonKaen provinces. Participants were emmetropes and persons with refractive correction with visual acuity of 20/30 or better. An item reduction process was employed by combining 3 methods-expert opinion, impact method and item-total correlation methods. The classical reliability testing and the validity testing including convergent, discriminative and construct validity was performed. Results: The developed questionnaire comprised 87 items in 6 dimensions: 1) quality of vision, 2) visual function, 3) social function, 4) psychological function, 5) symptoms and 6) refractive correction problems. It is the 5-level Likert scale type. The Cronbach's Alpha coefficients of its dimensions ranged from 0.756 to 0.979. All validity testing were shown to be valid. The construct validity was validated by the confirmatory factor analysis. A short version questionnaire comprised 48 items with good reliability and validity was also developed. Conclusion: This is the first validated instrument for measuring refractive error quality of life for Thai adults that was developed with strong research methodology and large sample size.