Quality Of Life Questionnaires

Question 1

True or false

Quality of life questionnaires are subjective

Answer 1

True

Question 2

How has the World Health Organisation defined quality of life?

Answer 2

Individuals perception of their positions in life in the context of culture and the value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns

Question 3

What is the classical McMillan 2000 definition of quality of life?

Answer 3

McMillan definition:
Quality of life is a multidimensional, experiential continuum.
It compromises of affective states, broadly classified as comfort-discomfort and pleasure states.
In general the greater the pleasant and lesser the unpleasant affects the higher the quality of life.
Quality of life is a unique individual experience and should be measured from the perspective of the individual.

Question 4

What does McMillan mean by multidimensional?

Answer 4

Many aspects need to be taken into account when measuring quality of life

Question 5

What does McMillan mean by experiential continuum?

Answer 5

An experience over time

Question 6

What does McMillan mean by comfort-discomfort and pleasant states?

Answer 6

Negative and positive states

Question 7

What does McMillan mean by greater the pleasant and lesser the unpleasant?

Answer 7

Greater the pleasant and lesser the unpleasant refers to the balance of cumulative negative and positive effects being tilted towards higher cumulative positive effects

Question 8

In 2003 what did McMillan create?

Answer 8

The balance model of quality of life

Question 9

Explain McMillan 2003’s balance model of quality of life

Answer 9

McMillan views quality of life as a balance between unpleasant feelings and pleasant feeling
McMillan believes that feelings have evolved to encode a vast array of internal and external stimuli that the animal is receiving from its environment
McMillan also suggests that the intensity of the feelings indicates the degree of importance of that feeling in that time
However, McMillan also believes that unpleasant feelings command more attention/priority/urgency because they protect against threats critical for survival
McMillan also argues that the intensity of some feelings can increase over time as urgency increases
McMillan also suggests that the timeframe in which the urgency of a feeling increases may differ between feelings

Question 10

What are the 4 criticisms of McMillan 2003’s balance model of quality of life?

Answer 10

1) What balance is appropriate?
2) What if pleasant feelings don’t compensate for unpleasant feelings?
3) What if there is some effect of the preceding emotional state on the evaluation, or intensity, of the next emotional state?
4) Some chronic unpleasant states can interfere with the ability to experience pleasure states

Question 11

True or false (McMillan balance model)
The fact that intensity of some feelings increases over time as urgency increases can effect when we measure an individual’s quality of life

Answer 11

True

Question 12

What is Wiseman-Orr et al 2006’s quality of life definition?

Answer 12

Quality of life is the subjective and dynamic evaluation by the individual of its circumstances and the extent to which these meet its expectations, which results in, or includes, an affective response to those circumstances

Quality of life is the subjective and dynamic evaluation by the individual of its circumstances (internal and external) and the extent to which these meet its expectations (that may be innate or learned and that may not include anticipation of future events) which results in, or includes, an affective (emotional) response to those circumstances (the evaluation may be a conscious or an unconscious process, with a complexity appropriate to the cognitive capacity of the individual)

Question 13

What does Wiseman-Orr et al 2006 mean by dynamic evaluation by the individual of its circumstances?

Answer 13

Dynamic evaluation by the individual of its circumstances refers to ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the individuals circumstances over a period of time

Question 14

What is Wiseman-Orr et al 2006 arguing when they mention emotions?

Answer 14

Wiseman-Orr et al is basically arguing that we can measure an individual’s quality of life by measuring their emotional states

Question 15

What is Belshaw et al 2015’s quality of life definition?

Answer 15

An individual’s satisfaction with its physical and psychological health, its physical and social environment and its ability to interact with that environment

An individual’s satisfaction (the fulfillment of one’s individual needs or positive mood or valence derived from this) with its physical and psychological health (the state of being free from illness and injury), its physical and social environment and its ability to interact with that environment

Question 16

Belshaw et al 2015 refers to needs, positive moods, and valence meaning we can use what kinds of welfare framework to measure quality of life?

Answer 16

5 needs
Positive mood
Valence measures
Associated affects

Question 17

True or false
Belshaw et al 2015 refers to physical and psychological health suggesting that we can also use animal related measures to measure quality of life

Answer 17

True

Question 18

True or false
Belshaw et al 2015 refers to physical and social environment suggesting that we can use resource related measures to measure an individual’s quality of life

Answer 18

True

Question 19

Belshaw et al 2015 also suggests that we need to measure how the individual interacts with the physical and social environment which means we should look at what?

Answer 19

As a result we should look at both animal related indicators and resource based indicators together since they may support each others findings

Question 20

True or false
Based on Belshaw et al 2015 definition it can be argued that doing a comprehensive welfare assessment can also be a measure of quality of life

Answer 20

True

Question 21

What is Wiseman-Orr et al 2006’s definition of health-related quality of life?

Answer 21

The subjective evaluation of circumstances that include an altered health state and related interventions

Question 22

True or false
Often quality of life and health-related quality of life are used interchangeably in the literature despite not being the same

Answer 22

True

Question 23

True or false
In the literature the most validated questionnaires are mostly relevant only for health-related quality of life contexts, but this is usually not specified in the literature

Answer 23

True

Question 24

True or false

Most health-related quality of life assessment tools focus on pain-associated conditions

Answer 24

True

Question 25

When should you use questionnaires?

Answer 25

Questionnaires are useful for contexts when we can't directly observe the animal, or collect data comprehensively

Question 26

In what situations are questionnaires preferred?

Answer 26

In some situations questionnaires are preferred because when doing a quality of life assessment behaviour can alter in unfamiliar environments or unfamiliar people Also for some things familiarity with the animal is helpful Also questionnaires are less time consuming and expensive than other welfare assessments

Question 27

Give an example of when familiarity with the animal is helpful

Answer 27

An example of these situations is that indirectly observing behaviour over long timeframes isn't practical in many situations So a proxy that knows the individual well will be able to notice any subtle changes which better shows their quality of life

Question 28

True or false Questionnaires allow us to quantify changes over time so we can constantly monitor improvements or declines in a situation

Answer 28

True

Question 29

Questionnaires allow us to quantify changes over time so we can constantly monitor improvements or declines in a situation What is this useful for?

Answer 29

This is very useful for monitoring: - rehabilitation following treatment - pain assessments and management They're also useful in making decisions on: - euthanasia - action with a chronic condition where intervention has its own drawbacks - where to focus improvements

Question 30

True or false Questionnaires are also useful to evaluate/refine husbandry environments/managements and compare procedures to find out if a practice is useful

Answer 30

True

Question 31

True or false | Questionnaires can aid in staff training

Answer 31

True

Question 32

How can questionnaires aid in staff training?

Answer 32

Doing questionnaires can help remind staff which aspects of welfare they should be monitoring for Some staff may forget or see some aspects as not that important and so ignore it or not monitor it as closely

Question 33

Quality of life assessments should encourage consideration of what?

Answer 33

Quality of life assessments should encourage consideration of all aspects of an animals life However, when tailoring it to a health-related quality of life questionnaire which aspects of the animals life we focus on depends on the area of interest

Question 34

When making a health-related quality of life questionnaire what 3 things must you take into account?

Answer 34

1) The species of the individual ``` 2) The specific population Are the the animals in the wild or captivity? Which sector are they in? Farm Zoo Companion ``` 3) What is the purpose of the questionnaire

Question 35

True or false When developing a health-related quality of life questionnaire we need a good definition of what we're actually trying to measure and what we mean by health-related quality of life and quality of life

Answer 35

True

Question 36

When developing a health-related quality of life questionnaire it's also important to be aware of what 4 questions?

Answer 36

1) How can it be used? 2) Who is going to use it as the proxy? 3) How often will it be used? 4) What will be done with the data collected?

Question 37

When developing a questionnaire it's important to identify what?

Answer 37

When developing a questionnaire it's important to identify all the candidate domains/themes of interest for measurements

Question 38

When creating an assessment framework for comprehensive assessment of all relevant dimensions what must you be aware of?

Answer 38

When doing this it is always important to ensure that you stay aware of all the limitations of any framework you use

Question 39

What are 2000 McMillan's 6 quality of life domains?

Answer 39

1) Social relationships 2) Mental stimulation 3) Health 4) Control 5) Stress 6) Food consumption

Question 40

What does McMillan 2000's social domain look at?

Answer 40

Positive social interactions and companionship Negative separation and social isolation The effects of these things on an individual will depend on whether or not the individual is from a social species or not

Question 41

What does McMillan 2000's health domain look at?

Answer 41

Anything that directly impacts health | Anything that indirectly effects health

Question 42

What does McMillan 2000's control domain look at?

Answer 42

Controllability of a situation | Predictability of a situation

Question 43

How is McMillan 2000's control domain important?

Answer 43

McMillan 200's control domain is important in terms of the individuals perception of a particular stress and their ability to cope with the challenge To do this the individual will modify the impact of a negative stimulus on them and in turn modifying there ability to cope with the stressor

Question 44

What is a criticism of McMillan 2000's control domain?

Answer 44

McMillan 2000's control domain is fairly difficult to actually get data on in terms of useful data for a quality of life assessment

Question 45

What does McMillan 2000's stress domain look at?

Answer 45

Negative emotional states | Ability to cope with stressor

Question 46

What is a criticism of McMillan 2000's stress domain?

Answer 46

How McMillan used stress was really vague especially considering the term stress has different meanings to laypeople and in certain scientific fields This makes things hard to know what to measure since some definitions of stress can cause the stress domain to overlap with other domains kinda making it useless More importantly if the stress domain overlaps with other domains it can be hard to get data that is specific for each domain

Question 47

In 2015, Belshaw et al constructed a health-related quality of life questionnaire What were Belshaw et al 2015's 4 domains?

Answer 47

1) Physical domain 2) Psychological domain 3) Physical environment 4) Social environment

Question 48

What consisted Belshaw et al 2015's physical domain?

Answer 48

``` Food quality and nutritional quality Dehydration Disease Injury Mobility Skin irritation Sleep deprivation Respiration ```

Question 49

What does Belshaw et al 2015's psychological domain consist of?

Answer 49

``` Fear/anxiety Pain Frustration Boredom Depression ```

Question 50

What does Belshaw et al 2015's physical environment domain consist of?

Answer 50

Exercise Comfort of housing Temperature

Question 51

What does Belshaw et Al 2015's social environment consist of?

Answer 51

Social interactions Human-animal interactions Stability of the environment

Question 52

When constructing a health-related quality of life questionnaire what do you do after you've decided on your domains?

Answer 52

Once the domains or themes are decided you then need to determine what specific indicators you'll use to measure each domain aspects for the specific species and population of interest

Question 53

If you're constructing your own domains and framework what sources can you use to help identify potential domain indicators to measure each domain?

Answer 53

Expert opinion Scientific literature Potentially looking at equivalent human populations If there's no data available you can do experimental observations with and without a condition to get a better idea of what your domain should look like

Question 54

After the domains and indicators are decided on you can create the questions for the questionnaire What are the questions referred to as?

Answer 54

Items The questions in a questionnaire are referred to as items

Question 55

Once the items are created for the questionnaire they're then scored and may get grouped into relevant domains/themes How can the items be scored?

Answer 55

``` The items can be scored in terms of: Agree vs disagree Rating the: Amount of something Intensity of something Quality of something Frequency of something Duration of something ``` Analogue scales Likert scale

Question 56

When looking at an emotional state what should the items focus on?

Answer 56

Even when looking at emotional states it's easier to ask about the frequency of a specific sign or indicator associated with feeling rather than asking about their subjective mood This increases the reliability of the data generated

Question 57

What do you do after you've constructed your questionnaire?

Answer 57

Pilot study Once you've constructed your questionnaire you need to run pilot tests

Question 58

What must the pilot study consist of?

Answer 58

The pilot study will consist of a representative sample of your desired target population

Question 59

Why must you do a pilot test?

Answer 59

Pilot tests are done to test the readability and comprehensibility of the questionnaire

Question 60

Why must you do a pilot test?

Answer 60

Pilot tests are done to test the readability and comprehensibility of the questionnaire

Question 61

What do you do after you've completed a successful pilot test?

Answer 61

After the pilot test you'll establish content and face validity

Question 62

How do you establish content and face validity?

Answer 62

You would usually send your questionnaire to multiple experts and ask them for any improvements or if it's good enough to use for the intended purpose You will then need an agreement from the majority of the experts at a significant standard for you to be able to say that your questionnaire has face validity

Question 63

How do you know if a questionnaire has face validity?

Answer 63

A questionnaire has face validity if "on the face of it" the items appear relevant to, and comprehensively sample, the domains that you're trying to assess

Question 64

What do you do once you get face validity?

Answer 64

Once face validity is established you can then distribute your questionnaire to proxies of healthy and affected individuals This is done to collect some data with your questionnaire The data collected will then be used to test how valid the data collected is

Question 65

What do you do with the collected data once face validity is confirmed?

Answer 65

First you'll use the data collected to test your questionnaires construct validity

Question 66

How do you test for construct validity?

Answer 66

To test for construct validity you'd first run each domains set of data through statistical analysis You'd usually run the items data through either factor analysis or principal component analysis You would then look at the results of the statistical analysis and see if the data matches the domains as intended All responses to items within a domain should positively correlate with each other Domains that should have opposite impacts should be negatively correlated If any item doesn't correlate with the domain then they'll be removed

Question 67

What do you do after construct validity is met?

Answer 67

After construct validity has been established you'd then test for criterion validity

Question 68

How do you test criterion validity?

Answer 68

First you send out the modified questionnaire to a representative sample of healthy and affected individual proxies At the same time you'd use gold standard methods and already validated measures to measure the domains You will then see how well your questionnaire results match the gold standard and validated measures

Question 69

What does the questionnaires data need to do for criterion validity to be established?

Answer 69

To establish criterion validity you'd need to make sure that the questionnaires data can discriminate between individuals with and without the condition

Question 70

What do you do after criterion validity has been met?

Answer 70

After criterion validity has been met you'll test your questionnaires reliability

Question 71

How do you test your questionnaires reliability?

Answer 71

To test reliability of a questionnaire you will reassess the same subjects within a short interval to check the intra-rater reliability of the questionnaire You will then do a test-retest test for the reliability of the questionnaire The test-retest reliability assessment is where the same sample does the questionnaire 2 times with a minimum gap of 2 weeks between questionnaires You will then do an inter-rater reliability test The inter-rater test will be where there's an independent assessment of the same subjects by several different observers to check inter-rater reliability

Question 72

After the questionnaire is made as reliable as possible what happens?

Answer 72

After the questionnaire is made as reliable as possible you will test the questionnaire for its responsiveness

Question 73

What are you looking at when checking a questionnaires responsiveness?

Answer 73

Responsiveness is where you look to see if the questionnaire is sensitive to changes in the condition that are important to the assessor or the animal You want to be able to measure subtle changes in the condition not just the presence or absence of it

Question 74

Your questionnaire is considered responsive if it can do what 3 things?

Answer 74

1) It can discriminate different degrees of health and welfare compromises 2) It can pick up on changes with the animal 3) It was tested for floor and ceiling effects This is where large numbers of the sample population score the lowest or highest possible scores This would suggest that the scales are not sufficient to capture the populations conditions degree levels effectively and need to be changed

Question 75

True or false | Validation and reliability testing usually happens in 1 study

Answer 75

False Validation and reliability testing usually does not happen in 1 study The questionnaire is usually tested in multiple studies with different sample groups

Question 76

True or false Very few studies actually test their questionnaire, or measurement tool, in controlled trials in a way that does track changes in an individual

Answer 76

True

Question 77

Few studies actually conduct any parallel observations to test owner reliability in reporting behaviour What is the problem with this and what could be the cause of this?

Answer 77

The main problem with this is that we don't know if the owner can provide the relevant data This could be due to: Owners not being observant enough to actually correctly measure the frequency of a certain behaviour Owners may not be the best proxy

Question 78

How can you measure owner reliability?

Answer 78

Compare questionnaire data with other external measures

Question 79

True or false | Just because a questionnaire, or other tool, has been published in a journal does mean that the questionnaire is valid

Answer 79

False

Question 80

What 8 things do you need to be careful of with a questionnaire?

Answer 80

1) The same circumstances may present different quality of life evaluations for different individuals 2) Perception can differ between individuals 3) Quality of life can shift within individuals 4) Quality of life ratings are affected disproportionately by current mood 5) Questionnaires are better at detecting gradual changes than rapid changes 6) We tend to make predictions about stuff that focus only on adversity, which can lead to poor quality of life predictions 7) We as proxies may give weightings to different domains 8) The proxies circumstances may alter their assessment