Applicability, Internal Structure, and basic Patterns of a Multicultural Brief Quality of Life Measure in a Sample of Psychiatric Patients with Comorbid Substance Use Disorders

Article Sidebar

Requires Subscription or Fee PDF (USD 25)
Published: Dec 15, 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5750/ijpcm.v5i3.519
Keywords:
Multicultural Quality of Life Index comorbid psychiatric and substance use disorders dual diagnosis positive health instrument applicability instrument internal structure

Main Article Content

Ihsan M. Salloum
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL USA.
Juan E. Mezzich
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY USA.
Levent Kirisci
University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, Pittsburgh PA USA.

Abstract

 Background: The measurement of quality of life as estimate of well being is assuming increasing importance in the evaluation of health and treatment efficacy.  Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the applicability, internal structure and clinical patterns of the Multicultural Quality of Life Index (MQLI), a brief, self-rated, culturally informed, quality of life scale, in patients experiencing comorbid psychiatric and substance use disorders.  Methods: Sixty-two consecutively admitted outpatients completed the MQLI. With this data, the applicability, internal consistency, factorial structure, and prediction of treatment adherence over a three-month period were assessed.   Results: It was found that the MQLI was easy to administer. It had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha 0.89).  Factor analysis revealed that the first factor explained 53% of the variance, indicating the unidimensionality of the instrument around quality of life. Two MQLI items, interpersonal functioning and the availability of supports, significantly predicted treatment adherence. Conclusions: The MQLI is easy to use, it has a coherent structure, and is clinically useful in psychiatric patients with comorbid substance use disorders. 

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 5 No. 3 (2015)
Section
Regular Articles
Author Biography

Ihsan M. Salloum, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL USA.

Ihsan Saloum, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Psychiatry and Chief, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse: Treatment and Research, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Salloum graduated from the University of Bologna School of Medicine, in Bologna, Italy and completed the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) post graduate fellowship program in alcohol research at the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Salloum’s research interest has focused on developing effective interventions for comorbid mood and addictive disorders and on addressing the diagnostic and therapeutic complexity of comorbidity and on Person-centered Medicine. He has published on the treatment of co-occurring disorders and is a frequent speaker at National and International scientific meetings. Dr. Salloum is the recipient of grant awards from the National Institute of Health. He is a member of the National Institute of Health Scientific Review Group and a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with added Qualifications in Addiction Psychiatry. Dr. Salloum is Member of the Board of the Executive Committee of the International Network on Person Centered Medicine. He is also the Chair, Section on Classification Diagnostic Assessment and Nomenclature of the World Psychiatric Association, and he is also the Secretary of the International Society on Bipolar Disorders. Dr. Salloum is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Honorary Member of the World Psychiatric Association.

References

. Mezzich JE, Schmolke MM. An introduction to ethics and quality of life in comprehensive psychiatric diagnosis. Psychopathology. 1999;32:119-120.

. Longabaugh R, Mattson ME, Connors GJ, Cooney NL. Quality of life as an outcome variable in alcoholism treatment research. Journal of Studies on Alcohol - Supplement. 1994;12:119-129.

. Orley J, Saxena S, Herrman H. Quality of life and mental illness. Reflections from the perspective of the WHOQOL . British Journal of Psychiatry. 1998;172:291-293.

. Williams JI. Ready, set, stop: reflections on assessing quality of life and the WHOQOL-100 (U.S. version). World Health Organization Quality of Life. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 2000;53:13-17.

. Bonomi AE, Patrick DL, Bushnell DM, Martin M. Validation of the United States' version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) instrument. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 2000;53:1-12.

. Power M, Harper A, Bullinger M. The World Health Organization WHOQOL-100: tests of the universality of Quality of Life in 15 different cultural groups worldwide. Health Psychology. 1999;18:495-505.

. WHO-QOL. Development of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. The WHOQOL Group. Psychological Medicine. 1998;28:551-558.

. Bosworth HB, Siegler IC, Brummett BH, et al. The Association between Self-Rated Health and Mortality in a Well-Characterized Sample of Coronary Artery Disease Patients. Medical Care. 1999;37:1226-1236.

. Katschnig H. How useful is the concept of quality of life in psychiatry? [Editorial]. Current Opinion in Psychiatry. 1997;10:337-345.

. Sherbourne CD, Hays RD, Fleishman JA, Vitiello B, Magruder KM, Bing EG, McCaffrey D, Burnam A, Longshore D, Eggan F, Bozzette SA, Shapiro MF. Impact of Psychiatric Conditions on Health-Related Quality of Life in Persons With HIV Infection. American Journal of Psychiatry 2000;157:248-254.

. Foster JH, Peters TJ, Marshall EJ. Quality of life measures and outcome in alcohol-dependent men and women. Alcohol. 2000;22:45-52.

. Hyman SM, Khazai L, Botros M, Torres YI, Miao F, Cornelius JR, Mezzich JE, Salloum IM. A gender comparison of quality-of-life and comorbid alcohol dependence and major depression. International Journal of Person Centered Medicine. 2015; 5 : 34-37.

. Voruganti L, Heslegrave R, Award AG, Seeman MV. Quality of life measurement in schizophrenia: reconciling the quest for subjectivity with the question of reliability. Psychological Medicine 1998;28:165-172.

. Mezzich JE, Ruiperez MA, Perez C, Yoon G, Liu J, Mahmud S. The Spanish version of the Quality of Life Index: presentation and validation. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease. 2000;188:301-305.

. McLellan AT, Luborsky L, Woody GE, O'Brien CP. An improved diagnostic evaluation instrument for substance abuse patients. The addiction severity index. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease. 1980;168:26-33.

. Guyatt, G H, S. J. Valdhuyzen Van Zanten SJ, Feeny DH, and Patrick DL (1989). Measuring Quality of Life in Clinical-Trials - a Taxonomy and Review. Canadian Medical Association Journal 1989; 140: 1441-1448.