Abstract

APEZETXEA, Antonio et al. The NutriQoL^® questionnaire for assessing health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with home enteral nutrition (HEN): validation and first results. Nutr. Hosp. [online]. 2016, vol.33, n.6, pp.1260-1267. ISSN 1699-5198.  https://dx.doi.org/10.20960/nh.769.

Introduction: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) provides a global view of the state of health of a patient receiving home enteral nutrition (HEN). Objective: To evaluate the HRQoL of patients receiving HEN using the NutriQoL^® questionnaire, a specific instrument regardless of the underlying disease and route of administration. Materials and methods: Observational, prospective and multicentre study conducted in the context of the validation and assessment of the NutriQoL^® questionnaire's psychometric properties. Results: One-hundred-and-forty individuals [disease: cancer (58.6%), malabsorption and other (27.1%), neurological (13.6%); HEN: supplement (61.4%), sole source of nutrition (35.7%); administration route: oral (54.3%), ostomy (31.4%), nasoenteric tube (12.1%)] participated. NutriQoL^® was reliable [ICC: 0.88 (95%CI: 0.80-0.93); Cronbach's α: 0.77 (1st visit) and 0.83 (2nd visit)], valid (significant Rho), lowly sensitive to changes (effect size 0.23), can be completed by either patients or caregivers (ICC: 0.82). The mean HRQoL (SD) with NutriQoL^® was 14.98 (14.86), EQ-5D tariff: 53(0.25), EQ-5D VAS: 54.15(20.64) and COOP/WONCA charts: 23.32(5.66). HRQoL with NutriQoL^® was better (p < 0.05) for oral HEN [19.54(13,23)], than nasoenteric tube [14(11.71)], ostomy [7.02 (15.48)]; administered orally [19.54 (13.23)], than by gravity [10.97 (14.46)], pump [8.5 (19.78)] or syringe bolus [7 (11.40)]; as a supplement [19.33 (13.73)] instead of sole source of nutrition [8.18 (14.23)]. Conclusions: NutriQoL^® is valid, reliable, even if lowly sensitive to change, and useful to measure HRQoL in this population. More studies are needed to know HRQoL in routine practice.

Keywords : Home enteral nutrition; Health-related quality of life; Questionnaire; NutriQoL^®.

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