Validation of the Arabic version of the schizophrenia quality of life short-version questionnaire (S-QOL 18) among Lebanese patients with schizophrenia

Generic quality of life (QOL) instruments often fail to capture the specific challenges faced by patients with schizophrenia. The Schizophrenia Quality of Life Questionnaire Short Form – Clinical Practice (S-QOL 18) is a brief, disease-specific tool developed to assess subjective QOL in this population. Although validated in several languages, no validated version exists in Lebanese Arabic. This study aims to translate and validate the Lebanese Arabic version of the SQoL-18 and assess its psychometric properties. A cross-sectional study was conducted between June and August 2025 among 124 long-term inpatients with schizophrenia at the Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross, Lebanon. The S-QoL-18 was translated into Lebanese Arabic following forward–backward translation procedures. Factor analysis supported a six-factor structure explaining 61.3% of the variance (KMO = 0.685; Bartlett p < 0.001). The SQoL-18 showed acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.733), with subscale alphas ranging from 0.40 to 0.80. The mean QOL score was 71.49 ± 16.37, with the highest scores in resilience and physical/psychological well-being, and the lowest in sentimental life and friendships. Convergent validity was confirmed through significant correlations between the SQoL-18 total score and all WHOQOL-BREF domains ( r = 0.41–0.58, all p < 0.001).Higher PANSS total, negative, and general psychopathology scores were associated with poorer QoL, while better functioning (GAF) correlated positively with SQoL-18 scores. the current findings support that the Arabic version of the SQoL-18 is a reliable and culturally adapted scale adequate for use in assessment of schizophrenia patients’ QoL.