Parsimonious and efficient assessment of health-related quality of life in osteoarthritis research: validation of the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL) instrument

Table 1 Demographic and clinical details of the study sample

		Total (N = 222)		Rheumatology Clinics (N = 66)		Orthopedic Waiting List (N = 45)		Community Group (N = 111)
		No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Age group (years) [missing values = 3]	< 55	30	14	11	17	6	14	13	12
	55 to 59	29	13	9	14	3	7	17	15
	60 to 64	33	15	11	17	5	11	17	15
	65 to 69	35	16	8	12	8	18	19	17
	70 to 74	39	18	11	17	7	16	21	19
	75 to 79	32	15	6	9	10	23	16	15
	≥ 80	21	10	9	14	5	11	7	6
Gender	Female	149	67	44	67	24	53	81	73
	Male	73	33	22	33	21	47	30	27
BMI groupings*
Underweight	< 18.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Normal	18.5 to 24.9	64	31	22	37	10	24	32	30
Overweight	25.0 to 29.9	76	37	26	43	18	43	32	30
Obesity I	30 to 34.9	40	19	9	15	11	26	20	19
Obesity II	35.0 to 39.9	19	9	2	3	3	7	14	13
Extreme Obesity [missing values = 14]	≥ 40	9	4	1	2	0	0	8	8
Most common joints affected	Knee	155	70	44	67	28	62	83	75
	Hip	118	53	25	38	16	36	68	61
	Back	110	50	24	36	16	36	70	63
	Hand/wrist	109	49	25	38	16	36	68	61
	Hip, knee, foot/ankle	179	81	35	53	38	84	101	91
Lequesne scores grouped for severity of handicap (hip only) [n = 115, missing values = 14]	Extremely severe	53	46	11	46	17	61	25	40
	Very severe	25	22	7	29	5	18	13	21
	Severe	21	18	2	8	6	21	13	21
	Moderate	13	11	2	8	0	0	11	17
	Mild	3	3	2	8	0	0	1	2
Self-rated general health	Excellent health	15	7	8	12	2	4	5	5
	Very good health	60	27	19	29	10	22	31	28
	Good health	93	42	25	38	20	44	48	43
	Fair health	40	18	10	15	10	22	20	18
	Poor health	14	6	4	6	3	7	7	6

* BMI classifications as per National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (USA) Guidelines

ISSN: 1477-7525