Validation and reliability study of the Turkish version of the Neuroquality of Life (Neuro-QoL)-Stigma Scale for neurological disorders

Abstract

Background/aim: Stigma can be defined as a negative perception of chronically ill patients by their relatives or by society, or a similarself-perception by the patients themselves. We aimed to validate the Turkish version of the Neuroquality of Life (Neuro-QoL)-StigmaScale for neurologic diseases.Materials and methods: Forms were filled out by a total of 152 randomized patients under regular follow-up in the outpatient clinic (29polyneuropathy, 25 epilepsy, 23 stroke, 24 tension-type headache, 28 multiple sclerosis, 27 Parkinson disease). The forms consisted ofthe Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), WHOQOL-BREF quality of life scale, the Multidimensional Scaleof Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the General Self-Efficacy (GSE) scale, and the Neuro-QoL-Stigma scale.Results: The internal consistency of the Neuro-QoL-Stigma scale showed Cronbach’s α coefficients of 0.95 for all groups. The meanscores of the stigma scales were 33.42 ± 13.91 (min–max: 24–87). There were strong negative correlations between high stigma scoresand GSE-T, MSPSS-T, and WHOQOL-BREF, and a positive correlation with the BDI and BAI.Conclusion: The Turkish version of Neuro-QoL-Stigma has satisfactory content validity and high internal consistency. Neuro-QoLStigma is suitable for understanding stigmatization in different neurological disorders in the Turkish population. The scale is availablefor use at http://www.healthmeasures.net/explore-measurement-systems/neuro-qol.