Validity and Reliability of a French Version of the MRF-28 Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire

Abstract

Background: Evaluation of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in chronic respiratory failure (CRF) is an important issue for evaluating the impact of treatment. Objectives: To elaborate a French version of the Maugeri Foundation Respiratory Failure Questionnaire (MRF-28) disease-specific HRQL questionnaire and determine its validity and reliability in patients with CRF treated by home mechanical ventilation (HMV). Methods: Forward- and back-translation of the MRF-28 questionnaire; the final version was submitted to 81 patients treated with HMV for CRF, simultaneously with the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), the Short Form 36 (SF-36), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD). Validity was determined by correlation with previously validated HRQL scores and recorded physiological parameters. Reliability was evaluated by assessing internal consistency and test-retest stability of the MRF-28 scores. Results: The French version of the MRF-28 and its subscores (‘daily activity’, ‘cognitive function’, and ‘invalidity’) were highly significantly correlated with subscores of the SGRQ, the SF-36 and the HAD. Both the MRF-28 and the SGRQ were correlated only with age and the 6-min walk test. The MRF-28 showed high test-retest reliability after 2 weeks (r² = 0.80, p < 0.0001) and high internal consistency (Crohnbachs’ α coefficient: 0.91). Conclusion: The French version of the MRF-28 is a valid and reliable disease-specific questionnaire for assessing HRQL in patients with CRF.

Health-related quality of life in COPD patients with chronic respiratory failure

“…This can be explained by the fact that the current patients had more severe airflow obstruction. JANSSENS et al [33] investigated the MRF-28 in a group of patients treated with HMV, but only 15% of patients included had COPD. CLINI et al [34] used the MRF-28 as an outcome measure in their study on HMV in COPD; however, they mentioned only change in scores and not absolute scores.…”

Perception of chronic respiratory impairment in patients’ drawings

“…The drawings emphasized the patients' sensation of breathlessness and body areas related to their handicap. Participants had severe COPD with a major impact on HRQL, as shown by both generic and disease-specific HRQL questionnaires (26,27,(34)(35)(36).Values obtained for the SF-36, the SGRQ sub-scores and the MRF-28 are in agreement with those published for severe COPD (27,34,35,37). The "floor effect" observed for the "Role Physical" and the "Role Emotional" sub-scales of the SF-36 reflect the experience of major limitations in these patients with severe COPD.…”

“…Scores are also transformed to a 0-100 scale, but higher scores are related to increased impairment. The Maugeri Respiratory Failure (MRF-28) questionnaire (26,27) is also a HRQL questionnaire focused on patients with chronic respiratory impairment, exploring: "Daily activity", "Cognitive function" (memory and concentration), and "Invalidity". Scores are transformed as for the SGRQ: higher values implicate increased impairment.…”

A health-related quality of life questionnaire in symptomatic patients with heart failure: Validity and reliability of a Japanese version of the MRF28

“…Here, we developed a Japanese version of the Maugeri Foundation Respiratory Failure (MRF28) questionnaire, which was conventionally developed for the evaluation of patients with chronic respiratory failure [8][9][10][11]. Because MRF28 contains domains of 'daily activity,' 'cognition,' and 'invalidity' which are all closely associated with the severity of heart failure, the application of MRF28 seemed to be reasonable to evaluate their healthrelated QOL.…”