Brazilian WHOQOL-OLD Module version: a Rasch analysis of a new instrument

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the Brazilian version of WHOQOL-OLD Module and to test potential changes to the instrument to increase its psychometric adequacy.

Methods: A total of 424 older adults living in a city in Southern Brazil completed the WHOQOL-OLD instrument, in 2005. Rasch analysis was used to explore the psychometric performance of the scale, as implemented by the RUMM2020 software. Item-trait interaction, threshold disorders, presence of differential item functioning and item fit, were analyzed.

Results: Two ("death and dying" and "sensory abilities") out of six domains showed inadequate item-trait interactions. Rescoring the response scale and deleting the most misperforming items led to scale improvement. The evaluation of domains and items individually showed that the "intimacy" domain does perform well in contrast to the findings using the classical approach. In addition, the "sensory abilities" domain does not derive an interval measure in its current format.

Conclusions: Unidimensionality and local independence were seen in all domains. Changes in the response scale and deletion of problematic items improved the scale's performance.