Measuring quality of life in people with aphasia: the Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale.

Assessing health related quality of life (HRQOL) in people with communication disabilities is a challenge in health related research. Materials used to assess HRQOL are often linguistically complex and their mode of administration usually does not facilitate people with communication disabilities to give their experiences. We are currently running a medium scale study (80 participants) which aims to explore the HRQOL of people with long-term aphasia and to assess the psychometric properties and the acceptability of the Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale (SS-QOL) (Williams et al. 1999) as a single measure for the assessment of HRQOL in this population. Here the initial stages of modifying the SS-QOL for use with people with aphasia will be presented. We will concentrate on the process of making the scale communicatively accessible to people with aphasia and increasing its content validity with this population group.