Quality of life after percutaneous coronary intervention: part 1

Spiritual coping strategies and quality of life in older adults who have sustained a hip fracture: A cross-sectional survey

AIMS

To investigate the relationship between spiritual coping strategies and quality of life in persons with a hip fracture.

DESIGN

A correlational, cross-sectional survey design.

METHODS

The total population of Maltese-speaking adults over 65 years (N = 299), with a hip fracture receiving treatment in a public hospital in Malta in 2015, were invited. The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale were used.

RESULTS

A response rate of 51% (n = 147) was achieved. The poorest quality of life was for the physical and psychological domains. Spiritual coping strategies were associated with better quality of life with the exception of physical quality of life. Non-religious coping strategies were the stronger predictor of quality of life compared with religious coping strategies. The former predicted physical, psychological, environmental, social and overall quality of life.

CONCLUSION

Hip fractures have serious implications on quality of life which could be improved by promoting non-religious spiritual coping strategies.

Translation and Adaption of Questionnaires: A Nursing Challenge

Background

Translation of previously developed questionnaires has often been the choice when addressing research to groups whose language is not English. In the translation of health-related questionnaires, it is highly important to assure congruency between the words and their true meaning in the language to which the questionnaire is translated.

Aim

To describe the semantic problems encountered in translating a standardized questionnaire from English (the Identity and Experiences Scale) to Norwegian according to the World Health Organizations translation protocol.

Design

A mixed-method study was used with the formation of four focus groups and a postal survey.

Data sources

Eighteen respondents from a nursing college in Oslo, an aged community in northeast Norway, and a community organization of retired persons in southeast Norway were focus group participants. In sum, 141 persons participated in the postal survey.

Findings

A number of semantical challenges in relation to interpretation and understanding of the meaning and use of words in the Identity and Experiences Scale were found.

Discussion

Words bearing emotional weight and connected to complex operational concepts were found to be problematic. Various American-English colloquial expressions also caused semantical challenges. Other problems were related to sentence structure and grammar form.

Conclusion

Translation, adaptation, and validation of questionnaires or scales for practice and research are very time-consuming and require careful planning and the adoption of rigorous methodological approaches to derive a reliable and valid measure of the concept of interest in the target population.

Implications for nursing

Translation quality is a methodological issue that nurses need to take seriously. It is highly recommended that nurses follow and document steps in a procedure of forward translation, qualitative reviews of translated items with regard to clarity, common language and conceptual adequacy, back translation, testing on lay panels, and committee review, or a probable variation of this procedure.

Exploring the quality of life of depressed and nondepressed, home-dwelling, Norwegian adults

AIM

This study aims to explore how intimacy, physical and psychological health, loneliness, and attitudes to ageing at a time of loss affect the overall quality of life (QoL) of nondepressed and depressed older adults.

METHOD

This was a randomised, stratified, cross-sectional study with two subsamples: depressed (n=74; mean: 77.9 years; 65% female) and nondepressed (n=356; mean: 75.0 years; 55% female), and based on the Geriatric Depression Scale-15.

RESULTS

Physical health accounted for the greatest variance in overall QoL in the nondepressed group; psychological health, losses, and feelings of intimacy also made significant contributions. In the depressed group, intimacy made the strongest contribution, while psychological health came a close second.

CONCLUSIONS

Physical health, psychological health, and loss were important to the QoL of nondepressed older adults, while intimacy was important for QoL in both depressed and nondepressed older adults. For those who are depressed, feelings of intimacy, in the form of having opportunities to express and receive love, are especially relevant and should be assessed by health professionals when planning interventions.

Quality of life data in older adults: self-assessment vs interview

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

There are obstacles for older people when reporting quality of life (QoL) in a survey format. The aim of this study was to explore the quality of data obtained on self-assessed QoL among older people with respect to modes of administration.

METHOD AND RESULTS

Approximately half of the QoL items showed significantly higher mean values in the mail sample than in the interview sample. Data suggest that there may be more vulnerability towards offering socially desirable answers. Problems with reduced energy and loss of memory affect both modes of administration.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates that investigating the mode of questionnaire administration among older people can be a valuable means by which to detect possible threats to data quality when interpreting QoL scores.