TY - JOUR
T1 - Similarities and differences among the Taiwan, China, and Hong-Kong versions of the WHOQOL questionnaire
AU - Yao, Grace
AU - Wu, Chia Huei
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgement The study was supported by grants from the National Science Council. (NSC 87-2312-B-002-001, NSC 88-2314-B-002-344, NSC 89-2312-B-002-001, NSC 95-2413-H-002-002, NSC 96-2413-H-002-001-MY3). Special thanks to Dr. Fang Jiqian and Mr. Leung Kwok Fai for providing the WHOQOL research papers and documents from the China and Hong Kong versions respectively.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - To facilitate comparison across cultures, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been developing a universal measure of quality of life (QOL) called the WHOQOL Questionnaire. This questionnaire contains 24 facets organized into six broad domains: physical, psychological, level of independence, social relationships, environment, and spirituality/ religion/personal beliefs. The standard WHOQOL is designed for cross-cultural comparison. However, to obtain a valid QOL measure that can be applied in diverse populations, cultural adaptation of the WHOQOL has been encouraged. Each culture is permitted to add culture-specific questions, called national items, so that the questionnaire can also reflect cultural attributes. Three Chinese versions of the WHOQOL have been developed for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. National items were selected for each version according to the criteria proposed by the WHOQOL Group. The purpose of this paper is to compare the Taiwan version to the China and Hong Kong versions. The questionnaire development process, response scale generation, psychometric properties (reliability and validity), national items, and population means were all examined. Results indicated that not only is cultural adaptation of WHOQOL measures necessary for individual cultures, but also for sub-cultures, as these differences must be considered in order to provide effective health care and treatment.
AB - To facilitate comparison across cultures, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been developing a universal measure of quality of life (QOL) called the WHOQOL Questionnaire. This questionnaire contains 24 facets organized into six broad domains: physical, psychological, level of independence, social relationships, environment, and spirituality/ religion/personal beliefs. The standard WHOQOL is designed for cross-cultural comparison. However, to obtain a valid QOL measure that can be applied in diverse populations, cultural adaptation of the WHOQOL has been encouraged. Each culture is permitted to add culture-specific questions, called national items, so that the questionnaire can also reflect cultural attributes. Three Chinese versions of the WHOQOL have been developed for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. National items were selected for each version according to the criteria proposed by the WHOQOL Group. The purpose of this paper is to compare the Taiwan version to the China and Hong Kong versions. The questionnaire development process, response scale generation, psychometric properties (reliability and validity), national items, and population means were all examined. Results indicated that not only is cultural adaptation of WHOQOL measures necessary for individual cultures, but also for sub-cultures, as these differences must be considered in order to provide effective health care and treatment.
KW - Chinese versions
KW - Culture
KW - WHOQOL
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=59249096605&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11205-008-9326-4
DO - 10.1007/s11205-008-9326-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:59249096605
SN - 0303-8300
VL - 91
SP - 79
EP - 98
JO - SOCIAL INDICATORS RESEARCH
JF - SOCIAL INDICATORS RESEARCH
IS - 1
ER -