The new questionnaire health-related quality of life for eating disorders showed good validity and reliability

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To describe the development and investigate the psychometric properties of a new instrument to measure health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for individuals with an eating disorder (ED). METHODS: Seven focus groups were convened and an extensive literature review was carried out to generate the items. The first draft of the questionnaire was pilot tested. Three hundred twenty-four ED patients took part in the final field study. The 12-Item Short Form Health Survey, the Eating Attitudes Test-26, and two items from the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 also were applied to examine the concurrent validity. Factor analysis, item scale correlation correcting for overlap, test-retest, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, known-groups validation, and the sensitivity of the questionnaire in different populations also were examined. RESULTS: The final Health-Related Quality of Life in Eating Disorders (HeRQoLED) questionnaire consisted of 50 items. Principal axis factor analysis identified eight subscales. Concurrent validity showed correlations >.40 with the criteria measures. Excellent reliability and stability were obtained. The HeRQoLED was sensitive in discriminating both between known-different groups and from the general population. CONCLUSION: The results provide evidence of the good psychometric properties of the new HeRQoLED questionnaire, except for one domain, which had to be eliminated.