Abstract
Multi-centre and cross-cultural research require the use of common protocols if the results are to be either pooled or compared. All too often adherence to protocols is not discussed in reports and where it is reported poor adherence is frequently noted. This paper discusses the use of international guidelines developed by WHOQOL Field Centres to conduct and report focus groups aimed at eliciting key concepts of quality of life among older adults. This was the first step in the development of the WHOQOL-OLD instrument. Although there was overall adherence to the agreed guidelines, there were some differences in the level of reporting, even after participating Field Centres had the opportunity to explain their reports. The reasons for these discrepancies are reported. It is concluded that because of local situations, it is difficult to achieve identical implementation of multi-centre cross-cultural protocols and that the highest standards of auditing are required if findings are to be compared. Suggestions for how such protocols can be improved are given.
Article PDF
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
McNeil WH. (1998). Plagues and Peoples. Anchor Press, New York
Skevington SM. (2002). Advancing cross-cultural research on quality of life: observations drawn from the WHOQOL development. World Health Organisation Quality of Life Assessment. Qual Life Res 11: 135–144
Olschewski M. (1998). Quality of life assessment in a cross-cultural context: use of the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist in a multinational randomised trial comparing CMF and Zoladex (Goserlin) treatment in early breast cancer. Ann Oncol 9: 745–750
Guillemin F, Bombardier C and Beaton D. (1993). Cross-cultural adaptation of health-related quality of life measures: literature review and proposed guidelines. J Clin Epidemiol 46: 1417–1432
Sartorius N and Kuyken W. (1994). Translation of health status instruments. In: Orley, K and Kuyken, W (eds) Quality of Life Assessment: International Perspectives, pp 3–18. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Anderson RT, Aaronson NK, Bullinger M and McBee WL. (1996). A review of the progress towards developing health-related quality-of-life instruments for international clinical studies and outcomes research. Pharmacoeconomics 10: 336–355
Bullinger M, Anderson R, Cella D and Aaronson N. (1993). Developing and evaluating cross-cultural instruments from minimum requirements to optimal models. Qual Life Res 2: 451–459
Fox-Rushby J. (1994). The relationship between health economics and health-related quality of life. In: Orley, J and Kuyken, W (eds) Quality of Life Assessment: International Perspectives, pp 61–74. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Hawthorne G and Richardson J. (2001). Measuring the value of program outcomes: a review of utility measures. Exp Rev Pharmacoeconomics Outcomes Res 1: 215–228
Wagner AK, Gandek B, Aaronson NK, Acquadro C, Alonso J and Apolone G (1998). Cross-cultural comparisons of the content of SF-36 translations across 10 countries: Results from the IQOLA Project. International Quality of Life Assessment. J Clin Epidemiol 51: 925–932
ABS. National Health Survey: SF-36 Population Norms, Australia. ABS Catalogue No. 4399.0 ed. Canberra: Australia Bureau of Statistics, 1995
Pike KL. (1966). Language in Relation to a Unified Theory of the Structure of Human Behaviour. Mouton, The Hague
Orley J and Kuyken W. (1994). Quality of Life Assessment: International Perspectives. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
(1993). Study protocol for the World Health Organization project to develop a quality of life assessment instrument (WHOQOL). Qual Life Res 2: 153–159
Fayers PM, Hopwood P, Harvey A, Girling DJ, Machin D and Stephens R. (1997). Quality of life assessment in clinical trials – guidelines and a checklist for protocol writers: the U.K. Medical Research Council experience. MRC Cancer Trials Office. Eur J Cancer 33: 20–8
Olschewski M. (1998). Compliance with QOL assessment in multi-centre German breast cancer trials. Stat Med 17: 571–575
(1995). The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL): position paper from the World Health Organization. Soc Sci Med 41: 1403–1409
(1998). Development of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF Quality of Life Assessment. Psychol Med 28: 551–558
(1998). The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL): Development and general psychometric properties. Soc Sci Med 46: 1569–1585
(1996). WHOQOL-Bref: Introduction, Administration, Scoring and Generic Version of the Assessment. World Health Organization, Geneva
Stewart DW, Shamdasani PN. Focus Groups: Theory and Practice. Newbury Park, Sage: 1990.
Ferrell BR, Grant MM, Funk B, Otis-Green S and Garcia N. (1997). Quality of life in breast cancer survivours as identified by focus groups. Psycho-Oncology 6: 13–23
Lydick E, Zimmerman SI, Yawn B, Love B, Kleerekoper M and Ross P (1997). Development and validation of a discriminative quality of life questionnaire for osteoporosis (the OPTQoL). J Bone Miner Res 12: 456–463
Bass EB, Jenckes MW, Fink NE, Cagney KA, Wu AW and Sadler JH (1999). Use of focus groups to identify concerns about dialysis. Choice Study Med Decis Making 19: 287–295
Cottrell CK, Drew JB, Waller SE, Holroyd KA, Brose JA and O’Donnell FJ. (2002). Perceptions and needs of patients with migraine: a focus group study. J Family Practice 51: 142–147
Shen W, Kotsanos JG, Huster WJ, Mathias SD, Andrejasich CM and Patrick DL. (1997). Development and validation of the Diabetes Quality of Life Clinical Trial Questionnaire. Med Care 37: AS45–66
(1994). The development of the World Health Organization quality of life assessment instrument (the WHOQOL). In: Orley, J and Kuyken, W (eds) Quality of Life Assessment in Health Care Settings, pp 41–60. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Lucasey B. (2000). Qualitative research and focus group methodology. Orthop Nurs 19: 54–55
Freeman K, O’Dell C and Meola C. (2001). Focus group methodology for patients, parents, and siblings. J Pediatr Oncol Nurs 18: 276–286
Microsoft. Microsoft Excel 2000. Seattle: Microsoft, 1999
QSR International. NVivo. 2.0 Melbourne: QSR International, 2002
SPSS. SPSS for Windows. 10.0 Chicago: SPSS Inc., 2000
GraphPad. InStat. 3.02 San Diego: GraphPad Software, 2000
Mapanga K, Ndlovu R, Mapanga M, Mudokwenyu-Rawdon C, Brooten D and Morris D (1999). A model for international research collaboration. Int Nurs Rev 46: 117–121
Kearney N, Miller M, Sermeus W, Hoy D and Vanhaecht K. (2000). Multicentre research and the WISECARE experience. Workflow Information Systems for European Nursing Care. J Adv Nursing 32: 999–1007
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11136-006-9163-3
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hawthorne, G., Davidson, N., Quinn, K. et al. Issues in conducting cross-cultural research: implementation of an agreed international procotol designed by the WHOQOL Group for the conduct of focus groups eliciting the quality of life of older adults. Qual Life Res 15, 1257–1270 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-006-0062-4
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-006-0062-4