International psychometric validation of the Chronic Venous Disease quality of life Questionnaire (CIVIQ-20).

To review the psychometric validation of the Chronic Venous dIsease quality of life Questionnaire (CIVIQ-20) in the countries that have used it since 1996. Prospective, clinical, international study in 18 countries. Patients with venous disease of the lower limb in the clinical, aetiological, anatomical and pathophysiological (CEAP) clinical stages C0s to C4 presenting to surgical outpatient departments and general practices and receiving drug treatment for 6 months. Quantification of symptoms on a four-point scale and pain on a visual analogue scale, and self-administration of CIVIQ-20 to patients before visit (baseline, 2, 4 and 6 months). In 3956 patients, CIVIQ-20 showed good internal consistency and reliability (above 0.80) through test-retest correlations. The discriminating power of items was good in known groups of patients. Factor analysis identified physical, psychological and pain factors as important, but revealed instability of the social factor. CIVIQ-20 was highly sensitive to changes in the quality of life of patients clinically improved after drug treatment. CIVIQ-20 is valuable in assessing treatment effects in longitudinal, multinational studies, but comparisons of different populations should use the global score rather than scores per dimension.

Launois R ，Mansilha A ，Jantet G 《-》

Validation of the chronic venous insufficiency quality of life questionnaire in Dutch patients treated for varicose veins.

The Chronic Venous Insufficiency Quality of Life Questionnaire (CIVIQ) is a disease-specific instrument to measure the impact of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) on patients' lives. The objective of this study is to test the psychometric properties of the CIVIQ, and to validate the use of the questionnaire translated into the Dutch language. A standardised questionnaire, including CIVIQ and Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36), was obtained before and 1 month after treatment to all new patients with varicose veins. The feasibility was tested by missing responses and response distribution. CIVIQ scores were compared to the SF-36 scores and between different levels of severity of varicose veins. The CIVIQ's reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability. The structure was studied using factor analysis. The scores before and after therapy were compared to assess responsiveness. There was a response rate of 93.5%. None of 20 items missed < 10% of responses, but three showed ceiling effect. The CIVIQ correlated well with the physical and moderately with the mental MCS of the SF-36, suggesting a good construct validity of the CIVIQ. The median CIVIQ scores increased significantly with the severity of varicose veins. The CIVIQ showed an excellent internal consistency and an excellent test-retest reliability. The CIVIQ score decreased in 76% of patients after treatment. The results were in accordance with the Norman's rule and showed a median effect size. This study confirms the feasibility, validity, reliability and responsiveness of the CIVIQ in patients with varicose veins. The psychometric properties of the Dutch CIVIQ were comparable to the original French version.

Biemans AA ，van der Velden SK ，Bruijninckx CM ，Buth J ，Nijsten T ... -  《-》

Psychometric Validation of the 14 items ChronIc Venous Insufficiency Quality of Life Questionnaire (CIVIQ-14): Confirmatory Factor Analysis.

The study aim was to confirm the factorial structure of the short (14 item) version of the ChronIc Venous Insufficiency quality of life Questionnaire (CIVIQ-14) using the Vein Consult Program (VCP) results. The international VCP study sought to evaluate the impact of chronic venous disease (CVD) on health care costs and quality of life (QoL). The factorial structure of the CIVIQ-14 was evaluated using two methods: exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to calculate the probabilities of items and dimensions remaining stable and to study the dimensionality of the scale using explained variance criteria, followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to confirm the original three dimensional structure and investigate alternative models that may have arisen from the dimensionality analysis. We also used the VCP results to evaluate the psychometric properties of the questionnaire and conducted subgroup analyses on countries with validated translations. A total of 47,149 questionnaires from 17 countries were available in the VCP. EFA revealed both items and dimensions as 100% stable. Dimensionality analysis showed that a two factor approach could be considered. CFA revealed the CIVIQ-14 three dimensional structure to be acceptable while rejecting the two dimensional model. Psychometric analysis confirmed the construct validity, internal consistency, and known groups validity of the CIVIQ-14. The results of subgroup analyses were consistent with those of the primary analysis. CFA of VCP data supported the factorial structure of the CIVIQ-14. The analysis corroborates the wide use of CIVIQ-14 as a valid instrument for reporting QoL in CVD patients.

Le Moine JG ，Fiestas-Navarrete L ，Katumba K ，Launois R ... -  《-》

Quality of life in chronic venous disease patients measured by short Chronic Venous Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (CIVIQ-14) in Serbia.

This was a psychometric validation of the short Chronic Venous Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (CIVIQ-14) as quality of life (QOL) instrument for chronic venous disease (CVD) patients. Patients aged >18 years who had CVD in CEAP C stages C0s to C6 were included in the study. Diagnosis was made by general practitioners according to CVD symptoms and visual examination of the lower extremities. QOL was assessed with the self-administrated CIVIQ-14. The reliability, construct, and convergent validity of the CIVIQ-14 was estimated as well as QOL of CVD patients according to CEAP C stages. The study comprised 2260 subjects who fully completed the CIVIQ-14. CIVIQ-14 had a high level of reliability, construct, and convergent validity, but the structure of its three dimensions (pain [P], physical [PHY], and psychological [PSY]) was suboptimal. After adjustment for age, body mass index, and number of CVD symptoms, CIVIQ -14 global, P, PHY, and PSY scores showed significant progressive reduction of QOL from CEAP class C0s to C6. These differences were present in both sexes. The progressive impairment of the QOL involved primarily the pain and the physical items. For all CEAP C classes, the P and PHY scores were lower than the PSY scores. Global scores for men and women were: 76.7 and 73.9 for C0s; 75.5 and 70.6 for C1; 67.8 and 64.5 for C2; 68.3 and 61.6 for C3; 60.7 and 54.6 for C4; 49.5 and 50.2 for C5; and 41.3 and 46.7 for C6. CVD in the lower extremities has a substantial effect on both physical and psychologic aspects of QOL, the physical aspects of QOL (P and PHY items) being more important. CIVIQ-14 is valuable in assessing QOL in CVD patients. Further investigations are necessary to confirm the stability of its two dimensions.

Radak DJ ，Vlajinac HD ，Marinković JM ，Maksimović MŽ ，Maksimović ZV ... -  《-》

The impact of chronic venous insufficiency and leg function on the quality of life of HIV-positive persons.

Pieper BA ，Templin TN ，Ebright JR 《-》