World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale – Brief (WHOQOL-BREF)

Scale Overview

The World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale – Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) was developed by The WHOQOL Group (1994). It is designed to measure Quality of Life. The scale is intended for use with Adults.

Scale Structure

This instrument consists of 26 items organized into 5 factors/subscales: Physical Health, Psychological Health, Social relationships, Environment, Overall Quality of Life and General Health.

Response Format

Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.

Response anchors: 1 = 1 (e.g., Very poor / Very dissatisfied / Not at all / Never), 2 = 2 (e.g., Poor / Dissatisfied / A little / Seldom), 3 = 3 (e.g., Neither poor nor good / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / A moderate amount / Quite often), 4 = 4 (e.g., Good / Satisfied / Very much / Very often), 5 = 5 (e.g., Very good / Very satisfied / An extreme amount / Always).

The scale includes 3 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 26 to 156. Interpretation guidelines:

• Total Raw Score Range (Higher scores indicate higher quality of life): 26 – 156

Psychometric Properties

Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Validated cross-culturally with high internal consistency.

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.