Adaptation and validation of the PAC-19QoL-specific quality of life questionnaire for the Spanish population with long COVID

Abstract

Introduction

The post-acute (long) COVID-19 Quality of Life instrument is the only specific instrument designed to assess the quality of life in long COVID patients. The present study aims to make a transcultural adaptation and validation into Spanish of the disease-specific (long COVID) quality of life instrument, post-acute (long) COVID-19 Quality of Life, to have a tool for objective measurement of quality of life in this population.

Methods

A descriptive cross-sectional study was divided into two phases. In phase one, the translation and cultural adaptation of the questionnaire was performed, while in phase two, the questionnaire was validated. The Spanish version of the questionnaire was used with a sample of 206 people, 40 males (19.4%) and 166 females (80.6%), with an age range between 21 and 70 years old. Participants completed the questionnaire through an online platform. Internal consistency, construct validity, convergent validity, test-retest reliability, and ceiling and floor effects of the Spanish version were analyzed.

Results

The Spanish version of the post-acute (long) COVID-19 Quality of Life instrument showed high internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha= 0.922 and an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.936. Mean scores obtained in the PAC-19QoL and SF-12 questionnaires showed that those who had a worse quality of life in the SF-12 tool also a had worse quality of life in the PAC-19QoL tool.

Conclusions

This study shows that the Spanish version of the post-acute (long) COVID-19 Quality of Life instrument is an appropriate and valid tool for assessing the quality of life of long COVID patients.

Keywords:

• Long COVID
• quality of life
• validation studies
• cultural adaptation
• public health

Transparency

Declaration of funding

This study did not receive any public funding.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

R. Jandhyala is a visiting senior lecturer at the Centre for Pharmaceutical Medicine Research at King’s College London and is responsible for research into real-world evidence approaches. He is also the founder and CEO of Medialis Ltd, a medical affairs consultancy and contract research organization involved in the design and delivery of real-world evidence in the pharmaceutical industry. The Jandhyala method was developed by R Jandhyala but is free of commercial licensing restrictions and while used as part of proprietary methodology, is not a direct means of commercial gain for the author.

The rest of authors listed above certify that they have no affiliations or involvement in any organisation or entity with any financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Acknowledgements

Authors thank all the participants involved in this study.