Abstract
Background: Recently a comprehensive and multi-diversionary scale for assessing Quality of Life (QoL) in Patients with Lupus has been developed. This study aimed to evaluation psychometric properties of the Persian version of Lupus Erythematosus Quality of Life Questionnaire (LEQoL) in Iranian patients with Lupus Erythematosus.Method: We used the forward-backward translation, and cognitive interview for linguistic translation. A cross-sectional design was utilized. We recruited a convenience sample of 165 lupus patients aged 19 years or over from the Iranian social media and Tehran city rheumatology clinics. Patients completed the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36), The Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), and the translated LEQoL. The psychometric properties of the LEQoL were examined to establish test-retest reliability, internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha coefficient (COA), divergent-convergent validity, and construct validity. Also, we used Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for assessing factor structures.Results: The total COA was α = 0.86. All subscales internal consistency ranging from 0.85–0.94. The findings of test-retest reliability for the overall scale was 0.93 and the subscales ranging between 0.82–0.92. The results from a CFA indicated that goodness‐of‐fit are satisfactory (χ2/df = 1.28, RMSEA = 0.042, CFI = 0.975). Also EFA showed that the Persian version of LEQoL with five-factor can explain 73.7% of the variances. For assessing validity, every factor of LEQoL has a correlation with some SF.36 and SCL-90-R subscales. This matrix indicates that the LEQoL subscales are somewhat independent, and this matter is one strength issue. Only depression (SCL-90 subscale) has a significant correlation with all LEQoL subscales.Conclusion: The translated Persian version of the LEQoL is a suitable scale for assessing QoL in Iranian patients with lupus.