Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a vital instrument to account for individuals’ well-being in various settings. However, no model of HRQoL allows for examining the effect of digital technology on HRQoL. Therefore, we extend an established HRQoL model by adding a digital technology-related construct. We refer to this extension as the technology-affected health-related quality of life (TA-HRQoL).

We investigate the extended TA-HRQoL model through a survey. In the survey, we exemplify the use of digital technology through a device for self-managing bladder dysfunction. Hence, we explore whether the model extension proposed is valid and how determinants of the HRQoL affect patients with bladder dysfunction.

The results indicate that the use of digital technology improves the HRQoL. In our exemplary use scenario, the digital technology decreases bladder-related functional impairments and increases well-being and life satisfaction directly.

Our study may provide evidence for the influence of digital technologies on the HRQoL, thus supporting our model extension. We consider our proposed TA-HRQoL model as valid and as useful to account for the influence of digital technology on an individual’s HRQoL. With the TA-HRQoL model, the impact of a digital technology on an individual’s HRQoL can be assessed.

Total hip replacement is one of the most successful orthopaedic interventions in improving considerably the patients' performance, nevertheless some patients demonstrate declined functional ability following an operation. Such condition is not a consequence of medical illness or the surgery itself but might rather be associated with mental status. The authors conduct an investigation concerning the relation between some psychological and psychiatric factors and their influence on health-related quality of life in patients after total hip replacement.

Into the study group we included 102 subjects undergoing total hip replacement (59 female, 43 male). In all subjects we measured depression (Beck Depression Inventory – BDI), anxiety (State and Trait Anxiety Inventory – STAI), sense of coherence (SOC-29), personality traits (Eysenck Personality Inventory – EPI) and health related quality of life (SF-36).

The postoperative values of the PCS and the MCS for the whole group of patients correlated negatively with the SOC values (p = 0.04 and p = 0.03 respectively). Neuroticism (EPI) and anxiety as a trait (STAI) were also associated with postoperative performance, both in mental (p = 0.03 and p = 0.008 respectively) and physical (p = 0.005 and p = 0.04 respectively terms).

Total hip replacement improves significantly the patient’s health-related quality of life at 6 months after surgery, what is influenced by sense of coherence, neuroticism and anxiety as a trait. Above mentioned factors should be taken into account when rehabilitation and social readaptation processes are planned.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) affords longevity to patients infected with the human immune deficiency virus (HIV). Since little is known about the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of persons who have been on ART for at least five years, the present study investigated the HRQoL of these patients in Botswana.

Medical records, structured interviews, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life–BREF (WHOQoL–HIV–BREF) instrument were employed to obtain information from 456 respondents.

Univariate and multivariate regression analyses showed that respondents' highest scores were in the “physical” domain (mean = 15.8, SD = 3.5), while the lowest scores were in the “environment” domain (mean = 12.9, SD = 2.5). Thus, the physical domain had the greatest impact on patients' overall HRQoL. Self-education about HIV-related issues was significantly correlated with all domains of HRQoL scores: physical (ρ = –2.32, CI95% = –3.02, –1.61); psychological (ρ = –2.26, CI95% = –2.87, –1.65); independence (ρ = –1.81, CI95% = –2.54, –1.06); social relationships (ρ = –1.40, CI95% = –2.13, –0.67); environment (ρ = –1.58, CI95% = –2.13, –1.04); and spirituality (ρ = –1.70, CI95% = –82.27, –1.13).

HRQoL assessments can identify and address patients' needs, and it is important that guidelines be developed that will yield improved care to ART patients in Botswana.

The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy–Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-Sp) scale is a valid and reliable instrument to provide an inclusive measure of spirituality in research and clinical practice. The aim of this study was to translate and investigate the reliability and validity of the Persian version of the FACIT-Sp.

The 12 item spiritual well-being subscale of the FACIT-Sp Version 4 was translated into the Persian language, Farsi, using the FACIT translation methodology. The questionnaire was administered to a diverse sample of 153 patients in treatment for cancer. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's α coefficient, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied to assess construct validity, and regression analysis was used to assess the predictor role of the FACIT-Sp in health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

Cronbach's α reliability coefficient for the FACIT-Sp subscales ranged from 0.72 to 0.90. The CFA generally replicated the original conceptualization of the three subscales of the FACIT-Sp12 (Peace, Meaning, and Faith). All three subscales significant predicted HRQOL.

The Persian version of the FACIT-Sp scale is a reliable and valid tool for the clinical assessment of, and research into, the spiritual well-being of Muslim Iranian and Farsi-speaking patients in other regions of the world who are in treatment for cancer.

There has been an increasing interest in the measurement of patients efforts to find meaning during the experience of a life-threatening illness. The aim of this study was to validate the German version of the Life Attitude Profile–Revised (LAP-R), a multidimensional measure of meaning and purpose.

A total of 511 prostate cancer patients with an average age of 64 years filled in the questionnaire during outpatient follow up care (response rate 70%).

Five of the original six dimensions were replicated by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis: Coherence, Existential Vacuum, Choice/Responsibleness, Death Acceptance, and Goal Seeking. The Purpose dimension was not replicated. Most LAP-R subscales showed good internal consistencies with Cronbach's α between .80 and .82, whereas the reliability for Existential Vacuum (α = .69) and Goal Seeking (α = .74) was less sufficient, but still acceptable. Results show significant concurrent associations between all LAP-R dimensions and measures of emotional distress, coping, and health-related quality of life; however, moderate correlations were found only for Existential Vacuum and depression, and inversely for depressive coping and the mental health subscale.

The German LAP-R is a reliable and valid instrument that can be recommended for further use in research and clinical cancer care.