The validity of the Shona version of the EQ-5D, of life measure

Abstract

Introduction: The EQ-5D, a generic health related quality of life measure developed in Europe, has been recently translated into Shona, the language of the majority of Zimbabweans. Although the reliability of the Shona version of the EQ-5D has been established within a community setting, the reliability and validity of the measure within a group of Shona speaking people with disabilities has not been examined.Aim: The aim of the study was to examine the reliability and concurrent validity of the Shona version of the EQ-5D, within the context of a house-to-house survey of disability in a high-density area of Harare, Zimbabwe.Methods: As part of a house-to-house survey of disability in a high-density area in Zimbabwe, 588 Shona speaking subjects with disability/morbidity or their proxies were asked to respond to the Shona version of the EQ-5D questionnaire. Those who were able to understand the concept filled in the visual analogue scale.  A testretest was done to determine the reliability of the EQ-5D.  Timed walking was used to investigate the validity of thedomain of mobility and the International Classification of Impairment, Disability and Handicap Beta Draft  (ICIDH2) was used as the gold standard for usual activities and self care. The concurrent validity of the anxiety/depression domain was determined against the Shona Symptom Questionnaire, which is a validated screen for depression in the Zimbabwe population. No measure of pain could be found which had been validated in Zimbabwe.Data analysis: The Intraclass-correlation  (ICC) and Pearson’s correlation co-efficient were used to determine the test re-test reliability of the descriptor section and visual analogue scale of the EQ-5D respectively. The t-test, ANOVA, and post-hoc Scheffe test were used to compare the EQ-5D with the measures of function.Results:Each domain of the Shona EQ-5D demonstrated reliability on the test re-test (ICC ranging from .58 for self care to .85 for mobility, p