| Abstrakt: |
For diabetics, initiating and continuing with exercise takes much effort and is considered to be related to their Quality of Life. In this study, an Exercise Quality of Life questionnaire (ExQoL) was developed and evaluated for validity by comparing ExQoL to SF-36, a general international QoL scale. The 29 questions were extracted and developed by the authors from 52 semi-structured individual interviews. ExQoL was administered to 238 diabetics (115 males, 123 females, mean age 59.5y/o) in 6 institutions. Each question had a score from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Patients were asked about previous experience and type of exercise. Factor analysis and the correlation to SF-36v2 (Japanese Version) was conducted. The study was approved by the ethical committee of NPO West Tokyo Diabetes Association and informed consent was taken from each patient. In factor analysis, 6 domains with eigenvalues greater than I were produced. These were F1: Effect of exercise, F2: Physical pain, F3: Optimistic view, F4: Therapy, F5: Negative feelings, F6: Enjoyment. The F1 score was lower in females; F2 was negatively related to age, BMI, and HbA1c. F1 and F6 were higher among past and current exercise groups. F2 and F4 were higher in the current exercise group. In relation to SF-36, F2 and F5 were correlated to all of the 8 subclasses. F3 was related to Physical Function, General Health (GH), Vitality(V), and Social Function, while F6 was related to GH and V. Two variables, F1 and F4, were not related at all. While many patients listed ball games and 'sports' as past exercise, walking, swimming, and group exercise such as stretching and muscle training was more common at present. Patients who had not exercised tended to list house chores, occupational work and travel as exercise. Construct and criterion validity of ExQoL was evaluated. Because domain F1 focused on perceived 'effect' and F4 focused on 'therapy', these may be specific to ExQoL but not to SF-36. The 'past exercise group maintained feelings of enjoyment and refreshment about exercise. On the other hand, the 'current exercise' group without experience tended to consider exercise as health maintenance or therapy. The results of this study indicate that ExQoL is useful to detect reluctance to exercise, and to determine the appropriate approach for individual patients in exercise therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
