Comparison of the Acceptability and Psychometric Properties of Scales Assessing the Impact of Type 1 Diabetes on Quality of Life: Results of the Your SAY: QoL Study

Aims: To compare the acceptability, reliability and validity of five contemporary diabetes-specific quality of life (QoL) scales. Methods: Adults with type 1 diabetes in the UK (N=1139) and Australia (N=439) completed a cross-sectional, online survey including: ADDQoL, DCP, DIDP, DSQoLS and QoL-Q diabetes (scales randomised to control for order effects). Participants rated each scale for clarity, relevance, ease of completion, length, and comprehensiveness. Scales were compared in terms of acceptability, response patterns, structure, reliability and validity. To assess cross-country reproducibility, analyses conducted on the UK sample were replicated in the Australian sample. Results: Findings (summarized in Table 1) were largely consistent between countries. The strongest scale overall was the DIDP, a brief (7-item), neutrally-worded scale with balanced response options. ADDQoL and QoL-Q diabetes also performed well across most criteria. Conclusions: This is the first empirical study to compare the user acceptability and psychometric properties of five contemporary diabetes-specific QoL scales. These findings may inform assessment of diabetes-specific QoL in routine care and clinical trials, but should be considered in the context of published evidence of the development and responsiveness of the scales. Disclosure J. Speight: Research Support; Self; AstraZeneca, Medtronic, Sanofi. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S, Roche Diabetes Care. E. Holmes-Truscott: Research Support; Self; Sanofi. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Novo Nordisk Inc. C. Hendrieckx: None. E. Coates: None. S.R. Heller: Advisory Panel; Self; Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk A/S, Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Zealand Pharma A/S. Consultant; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk A/S. D. Cooke: None. Funding UK National Institute for Health Research (RP-PG-0514-20013 to S.R.H.)