Objective: To validate the Spanish Severe Respiratory Insufficiency (SRI) questionnaire, the first health-related quality-of-life questionnaire specific for patients receiving home mechanical ventilation (HMV).
Study design and setting: This multicenter prospective study enrolled 115 patients (53 males, age 62+/-13 years) receiving HMV, recruited from five hospitals. Patients were scheduled for two visits during which sociodemographic and clinical data were recorded, and both the Spanish SRI and the SF-36 questionnaires were administered. Viability was assessed by recording timing and the response rate in the questionnaire. Reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cronbach alpha coefficient. Validity was studied by factor analysis, by a correlation test between the SRI and SF-36 questionnaires, and by establishing several simple, plausible, ad hoc hypotheses.
Results: The SRI was administered in 10+/-5 minutes with >or=96% responses for most items. Cronbach alpha coefficient was >0.7 for all scales except social relationships. ICCs were above 0.8 for all scales. Criterion validity obtained high correlations with SF-36, especially in psychosocial well-being and physical functioning scales. Factor analysis explained 60% of the variability. All ad hoc hypotheses were fulfilled.
Conclusion: The Spanish version of the SRI questionnaire has good psychometric properties, similar to those of the original questionnaire.