Development and validation of a quality-of-life scale for Chinese patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia

OBJECTIVE To develop and validate a quality of life (QoL) scale for Chinese patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). PATIENTS AND METHODS According to the QoL definition of the World Health Organisation, we adhered to the rigorous guidelines of instrument development to form a pool of items, selected items and validated the scale, using data from 256 patients with BPH. RESULTS A 74-item QoL scale for BPH (prior test version; BPH-QLS), including five domains (disease, physical, social, psychological, satisfaction) was developed and had good reliability and validity. The test-retest correlation coefficient and Cronbach's α coefficient of the BPH-QLS were 0.892 and 0.966. Thirteen common factors were extracted according to the conceptual model. The correlations of the BPH-QLS with the Short Form-36, the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and IPSS QoL score, and a published BPH-specific QoL scale were 0.784, 0.493, 0.462 and 0.762, respectively. The BPH-QLS could be used to discriminate among patients with a different QoL. CONCLUSION The new scale is reliable, valid and sensitive, and we recommend using the BPH-QLS in Chinese and Chinese-born patients worldwide to assist in clinical practice.