The reliability and validity of the International Spinal Cord Injury Quality of Life Basic Data set in people with spinal cord injuries from a middle-income country: a psychometric study of the Thai version

Study Design
A cross-sectional study.

Objectives
To examine psychometric properties, including internal consistency, construct validity, and test–retest reliability, of the Thai version of the International Spinal Cord Injury (ISCI) Quality of Life Basic Data Set (QoL-BDS).

Setting
Outpatient rehabilitation clinic, urodynamic clinic, and rehabilitation ward at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital.

Methods
Participants were assigned to complete two assessment tools, the Thai version of QoL-BDS which consisted of three single items on satisfaction with life as a whole, physical health and psychological health, and the Thai version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument (WHOQOL-BREF) completed by face to face interview. After 2 weeks, the participants were evaluated the QoL-BDS again via telephone interviewing to assess test–retest reliability.

Results
One hundred and thirty people with spinal cord injury (SCI) were included in the study. Of all participants, 103 people had a traumatic SCI. The mean (SD) age was 43.0 (13.1) years and the median (IQR) time after SCI was 7.5 (1–14) years. The Thai version of QoL-BDS had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89), fair to good construct validity (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient of 0.43–0.57, p < 0.01) and good to excellent test–retest reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.73–0.86).

Conclusions
The Thai version of QoL-BDS had acceptable psychometric properties. As it is concise, QoL-BDS should be encouraged in healthcare providers to investigate QoL in people with SCI, especially in middle-income countries.