Development, reliability and validity of the Chichewa WHOQOL-BREF in adults in lilongwe, Malawi

This study demonstrates that the new Chichewa WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire is acceptable and comprehensible to respondents in Malawi. The questionnaire also passed a number of tests of the validity of its psychometric properties. In the pilot population we found that older age was associated with lower Physical domain scores. Conversely, higher levels of educational attainment were found to be associated with higher quality of life in all domains except for Social Relationships. Respondents living as married or single were found to have higher quality of life in the Physical, Psychological and Social domains, and those who were widowed lower Physical quality of life.