Quality of life in patients with vertebral fractures: validation of the Quality of Life Questionnaire of the European Foundation for Osteoporosis (QUALEFFO). Working Party for Quality of Life of the European Foundation for Osteoporosis

Vertebral fractures may be minor or lead to pain, decreased physical function, immobility, social isolation and depression, which together contribute to quality of life. A Working Party of the European Foundation for Osteoporosis has developed a specific questionnaire for patients with vertebral fractures. This questionnaire, QUALEFFO, includes questions in the domains pain, physical function, social function, general health perception and mental function. QUALEFFO was validated in a multicenter study in seven countries. The study was done in 159 patients aged 55-80 years with clinical osteoporosis, i.e., back pain and other complaints with at least one vertebral fracture and lumbar bone mineral density T-score /=0.70. The internal consistency of the five domains was adequate, with Crohnbach alpha around 0.80. All except five questions discriminated significantly between patients and controls. The median scores of QUALEFFO were significantly higher in patients with vertebral fractures than in controls in all five domain (p/=3 SD severity, in contrast with 7 controls (4%). Significant correlations existed between scores of similar domains of QUALEFFO and the SF-36, especially for pain, physical function and me