Abstract
The Japanese version of WHOQOL-BREF has been used with different groups with various diseases and has demonstrated a high level of sensitivity to the variances among the comparative groups in each study as well as a high level of reliability and instrument validity. In order to provide a standard for QOL scores, a survey was conducted to obtain average WHOQOL-BREF QOL scores for a healthy Japanese population using stratification sampling methods in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagasaki in April 1998. The total number of participants in the study was 1,410 (male 679 / female 731), selected to be proportionally equivalent to the age and sex distributions of each site. The average QOL score was 3.29 (male 3.24 / female 3.34). The results indicated no differences in area or sex, but persons over 60 years old had higher QOL scores than those in their 30s.
The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) score distributed simultaneously showed a higher correlation with WHOQOL-BREF indicating that the lower QOL score, the lower people's general health status.
Based on the results of this study of a healthy population, it should be possible to clarify the impact of various diseases and disabilities on people across different populations in order to improve their quality of life.
