Quality of Life in Bipolar Disorders (QoL.BD) Scale FAQs
Below are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding the Quality of Life in Bipolar Disorders (QoL.BD) scale.
For further information on the QoL.BD, contact Dr. Erin Michalak.
Do I need to get permission to use the QoL.BD for research or clinical purposes?
At this point in time, we’re happy for the scale to be used without license fees for research and clinical use. However, if you could give us details about the studies you’re using it in and copies of any resulting publications, we’d appreciate it.
How many versions are there of the QoL.BD?
Two – a full 56-item version and a brief 12-item version.
How long does the QoL.BD take to administer?
People with bipolar disorder take an average of 4 minutes to complete the full and 1 minute to complete the brief version.
What is the reading age of the QoL.BD?
What other languages is the QoL.BD available in?
The full 56-item version of the QoL.BD is now available in Korean. The scale was translated by two Korean psychiatrists from the Department of Psychiatry at Wonkwang University in South Korea. This version was translated back into English by a bilingual colleague to ensure the translation corresponded the English-language version. The Korean version was then modified by a professor of Korean Language Studies to ensure cultural and language norms were considered. We are pleased to provide access to the Korean QoL.BD (BP-QoL): Click here to download the 양극성 장애 삶의 질 설문지 / Korean-language Quality of Life in Bipolar Disorder Scale.
The short 12-item version of the QoL.BD is now available in Turkish. Following a similar process to the above, the QoL.BD was translated into Turkish by researchers at Istanbul University’s Florence Nightingale School of Nursing. We are pleased to provide access to the Turkish QoL.BD: Click here to download the Bipolar Bozuklukta yaşam kalitesi Anketi / Turkish-language Quality of Life in Bipolar Disorder Scale.
These translated versions are currently being used for population-specific quality of life studies by researchers from these institutions.
The scale is also being translated into:
- Canadian French
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- Portuguese (Brazil and European)
- Swedish
Please contact Dr. Erin Michalak if you’re interested in translating/validating the scale for another country/population.
What domains of quality of life does the QoL.BD assess?
The scale assesses 12 basic domains:
- Physical
- Sleep
- Mood
- Cognition
- Leisure
- Social
- Spirituality
- Finances
- Household
- Self-esteem
- Independence
- Identity
Additionally, the scale assesses two optional scales (Work and Education). Each domain contains 4 items. The domains appear in the order listed above but are not distinguished on the questionnaire itself.
How do I score the full version of the QoL.BD?
Scoring is straightforward because the scale contains no reverse-scored items and all 14 scales contain 4 items. The total score is simply the sum of four responses per scale (range 48-240). In research settings where group means are being investigated, there are two ways to calculate QoL.BD scores:
- A total score (sum of responses across the 48 items of the 12 basic scales)
- Individual scores for the 12 basic scales (sum of four responses per scale) – obviously, it is not meaningful to create group mean scores for either of the two optional domains unless all participants completed that scale
How do I report QoL.BD scores?
In most research situations, it would be appropriate to present both the total score and the individual domain scores, keeping in mind that the latter is nested in the former and therefore not independent. We do not encourage conversion of QoL.BD scores into Percentage of Maximum Possible (POMP) scores.
How do I score the brief version of the QoL.BD?
Simply calculate the total score for all items on the brief version (range 12-60).
How do I use the QoL.BD in clinical settings?
In clinical settings, we recommend using the full version of the scale and calculating all domain scores (12, 13 or 14 scores, depending on the individual’s work and study status). In many clinical situations, it may turn out that one or two of the domains are of particular interest to the client and may provide the targets for clinical attention.
Is there normative data for the QoL.BD?
We will be posting t-scores (i.e. what percentile a given score represents relative to the population) for the scale in a large North American outpatient sample to this website in the near future.
How do I assess change or response to treatment with the QoL.BD?
In clinical settings, we suggest that response to treatment should be evaluated by examining change in the individual’s scores from their baseline assessment, or to use the scale to explore wellbeing at a domain level with an eye to treatment goal setting.
We hope in the future to be able to provide Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) or responder threshold scores for the scale, but we are not able to do so at this point.
