The Short Health Scale: A valid and reliable measure of health related quality of life in English speaking inflammatory bowel disease patients

• Published in: Journal of Crohn's and colitis Vol. 7; no. 8; pp. 616 - 621
• Main Authors: McDermott, Edel, Keegan, Denise, Byrne, Kathryn, Doherty, Glen A., Mulcahy, Hugh E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier B.V 01.09.2013
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anxiety - complications; Colitis, Ulcerative - complications; Colitis, Ulcerative - psychology; Crohn Disease - complications; Crohn Disease - psychology; Crohn's disease; Disease activity; Female; Health related quality of life; Health Status; Humans; Inflammatory bowel disease; Language; Male; Middle Aged; Quality of Life - psychology; Reproducibility of Results; Severity of Illness Index; Short Health Scale; Surveys and Questionnaires; Ulcerative colitis; Young Adult; Inflammatory bowel disease; Health related quality of life; Short Health Scale; Crohn's disease; Disease activity; Ulcerative colitis
• ISSN: 1873-9946; 1876-4479
• DOI: 10.1016/j.crohns.2012.07.030

Health related quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease is influenced both by disease activity as well as by the psychosocial characteristics of the individual patient. The Short Health Scale (SHS) is a four-part visual analogue scale questionnaire using open-ended questions that are designed to assess the impact of inflammatory bowel disease on a health related quality of life. The four dimensions include bowel symptoms, activities of daily life, worry and general wellbeing. It has previously been validated in Swedish and Norwegian speaking patients. To evaluate the SHS in an English speaking inflammatory bowel disease population. Four hundred and ninety Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients completed the SHS. Individual SHS items were correlated with Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) dimensions and with disease activity to assess validity. Test–retest reliability was assessed in 38 patients who completed the Short Health Scale two weeks apart. All four items correlated with corresponding IBDQ dimensions with correlation coefficients ranging from −0.66 to −0.74 (all p values<0.001). In addition, total SHS scores correlated with total IBDQ scores in both Crohn's disease (−0.836) and ulcerative colitis (0.797). There was a stepwise increase in Short Health Scale scores with increasing disease activity (all p values<0.001). Reliability was confirmed with test–retest correlations ranging from 0.70 to 0.89 (all p values<0.005). The Short Health Scale is a valid and reliable measure of health related quality of life in English speaking inflammatory bowel disease patients.