Using the U.S. Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System’s Health Related Quality of Life Survey Tool in a Canadian City

As responsibility for health funding shifts from central to local governments, providers find themselves in decision-making roles or asked to give guidance in allocation of resources. To develop a picture of a population’s health, data are needed about the effects that illness and disability have on a person’s ability to function and thus on quality of life. This study assessed the validity in a Canadian city, of a Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) instrument developed by the US Centers for Disease Control and used in the US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The HRQoL was administered to a random sample of 1,042 adults. The patterns of association among the HRQoL questions, and the direction of the relationships among independent variables and HRQoL were consistent with those hypothesized. The accumulating evidence for validity of the HRQoL support its use in monitoring the performance of local health initiatives in Canada.