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Development and psychometric analysis of the systemic lupus erythematosus needs questionnaire (SLENQ)

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Abstract

This study aims to develop a self-administered needs assessment questionnaire for people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), assess its face, content and construct validity and test the reliability of the instrument. Eighty-four people with SLE, registered with a Lupus Resource Centre in New South Wales, Australia participated in a series of focus groups and pre and pilot testing phases in the development of a needs instrument and 594 people from a SLE support association were sent the SLE needs questionnaire (SLENQ) and the MOS-SF-36 and asked to complete both. Face and content validity were found to be high following pre and pilot testing. Principal components analysis identified seven factors with eigenvalues greater than 1, which together accounted for 53% of the total variance (psychological/spiritual/existential, health services, health information, physical, social, daily living and employment/financial needs). Internal reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s α) of all seven factor-based scales were found to be substantial, ranging from 0.77 to 0.96. Moderately significant correlation between the domains of the SLENQ and the MOS SF-36 were supportive in ascertaining concurrent validity. These findings suggest that the SLENQ provides a reliable and valid index of the global needs of people with SLE.

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Abbreviations

MOS-SF-36:

medical outcomes study short form-36

QoL:

quality of life

SLE:

systemic lupus erythematosus

SLENQ:

systemic lupus erythematosus needs questionnaire

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the members and staff of the Lupus Association of NSW, Rachel Rossiter, Clinical Nurse Consultant, and the patients from the Scleroderma/Lupus Resource Centre, Newcastle, and Dr Glenn Reeves — Staff Specialist, Immunology, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, for their ongoing support during the many phases of this project. This paper was prepared with infrastructure support from the Hunter Medical Research Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle & Hunter Medical Research Institute, Booth Building (Locked Bag 10), Longworth Ave, Wallsend, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

    Neta Moses

  2. Health Behaviour Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia

    John Wiggers & Jill Cockburn

  3. Hunter Population Health, Wallsend, Newcastle, Australia

    Craig Nicholas

Authors
  1. Neta Moses
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  2. John Wiggers
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  3. Craig Nicholas
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  4. Jill Cockburn
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Correspondence to Neta Moses.

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Moses, N., Wiggers, J., Nicholas, C. et al. Development and psychometric analysis of the systemic lupus erythematosus needs questionnaire (SLENQ). Qual Life Res 16, 461–466 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-006-9137-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-006-9137-5

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