Life Satisfaction in Persons With Late Effects of Polio: A Test-Retest Reliability Study

Abstract

Background: The Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (LiSat-11), including one global item and 10 domain-specific items, is used to evaluate life satisfaction in persons with the late effects of polio (LEoPs). However, there is a lack of knowledge about its psychometric properties. Objective: To evaluate the test-retest reliability of the LiSat-11 and the associations between the global and domain-specific items in persons with LEoPs. Design: A test-retest design, where data were collected by a postal survey. Setting: University Hospital, Outpatient Clinic. Participants: A cross-sectional sample of persons (20 women and 31 men; mean age 72 years) with LEoPs. Main Outcome Measurements: LiSat-11, assessing how satisfied a person is with different aspects of life, such as life as a whole, vocation, economy, leisure, contacts with friends and acquaintances, sexual life, activities of daily living (ADLs), family life, partner relationship, somatic health, and psychological health. Methods: LiSat-11 was administered on two occasions, 2 weeks apart. The test-retest reliability was evaluated by Kappa statistics, the percent agreement (PA), and the Svensson rank-invariant method. The association between the items was evaluated with the Spearman rank correlation coefficient (rho). Results: The Kappa coefficients showed good to excellent agreement (0.64-0.90) and the PA ≤1 point was high (>92%) for all items. No items showed any systematic or random disagreements according to the Svensson method. All domain-specific items correlated significantly with the global item “Life as a whole” (P