MOS-SF-36 in Evaluating Health-Related Quality of Life in Alcohol-Dependent Patients

Abstract

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was evaluated in a sample of alcohol-dependent patients with the 36-item Medical Outcome Study Short-Form Health Survey (MOS-SF-36). The instrument was administered to 147 patients (77% males), aged 26-78, with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of alcohol dependence. The Hamilton Depression Scale (HDS), the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SADQ), and the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) were also administered to the first 100 patients included in the study. The reliability and validity of the MOS-SF-36 were evaluated. Test-retest intraclass coefficients for a 10-day interval were in the range .65 to .79, whereas the Cronbach alpha coefficient indicated good internal consistency (range .70 to .89). Compared to scores observed in the general population, MOS-SF-36 scores for alcohol-dependent patients were relatively low (indicating worse perception of HRQoL), especially in the psychological and role dimensions (range 52/100 to 55/100), but were closer to populational values in the physical and functional dimensions (range 61/100 to 75/100)). The highest correlation between MOS-SF-36 dimensions and HDS was found in the MOS-SF-36 "mental health" dimension (r=-.56, p < .001); this dimension was also correlated highly with the psychiatric dimension of the ASI (r=-.73, p < .001). The eight dimensions of the MOS-SF-36 were 21% to 127% lower in patients with HDS greater than or equal to 16 (major depression) compared to those with HDS less than or equal to 7 (absence of depression). The MOS-SF-36 dimensions were 10% to 141% lower in patients with high "ASI alcohol" scores, indicating worse HRQoL profiles with a higher severity of alcohol dependence. The MOS-SF-36 presents good criteria for reliability and validity in alcohol-dependent patients. The results suggested that alcohol-dependent patients perceived their problems more as psychological than physical. The severity of alcohol dependence and depression seemed to influence the perception of HRQoL negatively.

Quality of life, alcohol detoxification and relapse: Is quality of life a predictor of relapse or only a secondary outcome measure?

“…The baseline QOL domain scores for Physical and Psychological health, Social relationships and Environment were statistically significantly lower than those of the reference population. These results are consistent with previous studies that used MOS-SF-based tools [2,3,10] and the LSS [49] to compare AUD patients entering detoxification against a reference population.…”

“…The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that the impairment of these same parameters is an integral component of alcoholism [1]. Moreover, some studies have confirmed that QOL is lower in alcoholics, and varies with the severity of alcohol dependence [2,3]. Indeed, QOL tends to improve after detoxification and treatment [4][5][6][7][8] and worsen during relapse [6,[9][10][11].…”

The impact of illicit drug use and harmful drinking on quality of life among injection drug users at high risk for hepatitis C infection

“…Scores on each of the subscales range between 0 and 100 with higher scores denoting better perceived health and functioning. The SF-36 has been validated in a wide range of populations, including alcohol and drug users (Daeppen et al, 1998;Falck et al, 2000;Falck et al, 2003;Stein et al, 1998).…”

Alcohol Treatment Effects on Secondary Nondrinking Outcomes and Quality of Life: The COMBINE Study

“…In general, alcohol-dependent patients have lower quality-of-life scores as compared with the norms of the general population (Daeppen et al, 1998;Morgan et al, 2003) and with other medical patients (Foster et al, 1997;Volk et al, 1997). In addition, higher severity of alcohol dependence is predictive of lower quality of life for alcoholics at the beginning of treatment (Morgan et al, 2004).…”