Quality of Life Index – QLI
Measures quality of life in terms of satisfaction and importance across health, social, economic, psychological, and family domains.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Quality of Life Index – QLI was developed by Carol Estwing Ferrans and Margaret J. Powers (1985). It is designed to measure Quality of Life. The scale is intended for use with Adults and clinical populations.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 66 items organized into 4 factors/subscales: Health and Functioning, Social and Economic, Psychological/Spiritual, Family.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Health and Functioning | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,11,16,17,18,25,26,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,44,49,50,51,58,59 | 28 |
| Social and Economic | 13,15,19,20,21,22,23,24,46,48,52,53,54,55,56,57 | 16 |
| Psychological/Spiritual | 27,28,29,30,31,32,33,60,61,62,63,64,65,66 | 14 |
| Family | 9,10,12,14,42,43,45,47 | 8 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Very Dissatisfied (Part I) / Very Unimportant (Part II), 2 = Moderately Dissatisfied (Part I) / Moderately Unimportant (Part II), 3 = Slightly Dissatisfied (Part I) / Slightly Unimportant (Part II), 4 = Slightly Satisfied (Part I) / Slightly Important (Part II), 5 = Moderately Satisfied (Part I) / Moderately Important (Part II), 6 = Very Satisfied (Part I) / Very Important (Part II).
The scale includes 2 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 0 to 30. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Quality of Life: 0 – 10
- Moderate Quality of Life: 11 – 20
- High Quality of Life: 21 – 30
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach's alpha ranges from 0.73 to 0.99 across various populations.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.