Validation of the Korean Version of the MacNew Heart Disease Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire

BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important concept in patients with cardiac diseases, including myocardial infarction (MI). Disease-specific tools offer valuable insights into the impact of a disease on various aspects of a patient's life. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the MacNew Heart Disease HRQoL Questionnaire (Korean MacNew). METHODS: One hundred thirty-six patients who had experienced MI about 3 months earlier were recruited from two tertiary hospitalsin South Korea. The internal consistency and various types of validity of the Korean MacNew were assessed. Exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation was performed to identify a better structure for this instrument. RESULTS: The internal consistency of the Korean MacNew was established with Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from .88 to .93. Face validity and construct validity (both discriminant and concurrent) of the Korean MacNew were established. Strong positive correlations were found between the total Korean MacNew and the single-item global QoL scale (r = .73, p < .001). As expected, the total Korean MacNew also had strong negative correlations with the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (r = -.81, p < .001) and the single-item fatigue scale (r = -.51, p < .001). The outcomes of exploratory factor analysis showed a better result with the five-factor structure in the Korean MacNew. CONCLUSIONS: The Korean MacNew showed consistently acceptable psychometric properties of reliability and validity in patients with MI. Therefore, this instrument may be recommended for assessing the HRQoL of patients with MI in Korea. However, caution should be taken in using the subscale scores.