Tool-Description

The Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life (ADDQOL-19) is a tool designed to measure the quality of life of people with diabetes, consisting of 19 questions. It is widely used to assess the impact of diabetes on patients’ lives, offering a detailed exploration of how the condition affects various aspects of daily living. ADDQOL-19 includes 19 questions, each addressing a specific aspect of life, such as:
Work, Financial situation, Social life, Psychological well-being, Physical health, Leisure time.
Participants are asked to respond in two parts for each question:
To what extent diabetes negatively affects this particular aspect (scoring from -3 to +1),
The importance of this aspect to their life (scoring from 0 to 3).

Data Analysis and Use

The analysis of data from ADDQOL-19 is based on a weighted score for each question, calculated by multiplying the negative impact score by the importance score. This gives a more accurate estimate of how diabetes affects that particular dimension of the patient’s life.
The data is used for:
Personal assessment of the impact of diabetes,
Comparative studies across different populations or types of diabetes,
Evaluating the effect of therapeutic interventions.

Purpose

The goal of ADDQOL-19 is to determine how diabetes impacts the quality of life of individuals and to highlight the most important areas where improvement is needed. The tool helps healthcare professionals better understand the needs of patients and adjust treatment to meet individual preferences and concerns.

Calibration

Calibration involves ensuring that the questions and scores are appropriately weighted and reliable for different populations. The calibration process includes:
Verifying internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha),
Testing reliability (test-retest reliability),
Assessing validity by comparing it with other tools that evaluate quality of life.

Bibliography

Bradley, C., & Speight, J. (2002). “Patient perceptions of diabetes and diabetes therapy: assessing quality of life.” Diabetes Metabolism Research and Reviews, 18(S3), S64-S69.
Weinstein, N., & Ryan, R. M. (2011). “A Self-determination theory approach to understanding stress incursion and responses.” International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 18(4), 379-391.
Goodridge, D., & Trepman, E. (2006). “Quality of life of adults with type 2 diabetes in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Diabetes, 30(2), 113-122.