The Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of LIfe
In a number of studies
we used the Schedule for the Evaluation of
Individual QoL - Direct Weighting version SEIQoL-DW.
The SEIQoL-DW is a semi-structured interview
aiming to find
-
the five areas of life that are considered
central to the individual’s QoL, ‘cues’; (when respondents are
unable to nominate five cues, they are asked to choose from a
list of nine frequently mentioned cues);
-
the patients’ perceived level of functioning
within each cue, recorded using visual analogue scales ranging
from
As bad as could possibly be (value 0) to
As good as could possibly be (value 100);
-
the relative importance (i.e., weight) of each
cue, recorded using a disc with five coloured sections
representing each elicited cue. Respondents are asked to change
the sizes of the coloured sections by rotating labels attached
to the sections so that they correspond with the perceived
weight of the cues.
A total weight score of 100 is distributed among
the five cues. An overall score (SEIQoL Index, range 0-100) is calculated as the sum of cue levels
multiplied by cue weights, and divided by 100. Other studies showed
that the SEIQoL-DW weights generally appeared to be stable over
time, and the data collection procedure was acceptable to patients
in palliative terminal care settings. In addition, cue levels in a
small sample were found to be stable over an average period of 16.5
months.