The quality of life of patients with schizophrenia : 1 (Jordan-Saudi project)‎ the reliability and validity of the modified version of schizophrenia quality of life scale (SQLS)‎

Abstract EN

Objectives: The main objective of the study was to determine the psychometric properties of the Arabic language version of the modified Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale (SQLS).

Methods: 99 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia attending the main psychiatric clinic in Irbid, Jordan, were the purpose of this study.

Patients were given a socio-demographic questionnaire, the modified version of the SQLS and the Self-reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-24).

The impairment in social and functioning domains was assessed on a 3-point scale (mild-moderate, moderate-severe and severe-very severe).

Internal reliability and factor structure of the modified scale were first determined.

The original SQLS and its modified version were returned to 27 patients from the previous sample of patients a few months later.

This allowed us to assess the test - retest reliability of the modified scale and its concurrent validity.

Convergent and construct validity were also evaluated.

Results: alpha reliability coefficient was found to be 0.93; Spearman correlation coefficient between the SQLS and SRQ total score was significantly high 0.77; Spearman correlation coefficient between the original and modified versions was 0.82 and test retest reliability of the modified scale was 0.94.

Factor analysis yielded three dimensions “ psychosocial and symptoms”, “side effects’’ and “motivation”.

The SQLS total scores discriminated significantly patients with different levels of impairment, education and work status, confirming its construct validity.