Urbach et al developed a short questionnaire for evaluating the quality of life for a patient with achalasia. This can help to monitor the impact of the disorder over time. The authors are from the University of Toronto, and Toronto General Hospital.
Patient selection: achalasia
Time from: over the past month
Parameters:
(1) food limitations
(2) difficulty swallowing raw hard fruits and vegetables
(3) difficulty swallowing rice
(4) difficulty swallowing clear liquids
(5) need to drink water while eating to dislodge food caught in the esophagus
(6) pain while eating
(7) problem with heartburn
(8) bothered by the time needed for eating
(9) limits on lifestyle because of achalasia
(10) satisfaction with health in regard to achalasia
|
Parameter |
Finding |
Points |
|
food limitations |
none |
1 |
|
|
mild |
2 |
|
|
moderate or severe |
3 |
|
difficulty swallowing hard fruits and vegetables |
none |
1 |
|
|
little |
2 |
|
|
great or unable |
3 |
|
difficulty swallowing rice |
none |
1 |
|
|
little |
2 |
|
|
great or unable |
3 |
|
difficulty swallowing clear liquids |
none |
1 |
|
|
little |
2 |
|
|
great or unable |
2 |
|
need to drink water to dislodge food |
never or rarely |
1 |
|
|
sometimes |
2 |
|
|
frequently or always |
3 |
|
pain while eating |
never |
1 |
|
|
rarely |
2 |
|
|
sometimes |
3 |
|
|
frequently or every time |
4 |
|
problem with heartburn |
none |
1 |
|
|
mild |
2 |
|
|
moderate |
3 |
|
|
severe |
4 |
|
|
very severe |
5 |
|
bothered by time needed for eating |
no |
1 |
|
|
yes |
2 |
|
limits on lifestyle |
no |
1 |
|
|
yes |
2 |
|
satisfied with health |
strongly agree |
1 |
|
|
agree |
2 |
|
|
neutral |
3 |
|
|
disagree |
4 |
|
|
strongly disagree |
4 |
total score =
= SUM(points for all 10 items)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 10
• maximum score: 31
• The higher the score the worse the quality of life related to achalasia.
• The observed score can be converted to a 0 to 100 range using the following table, which anything but linear.
• The effective range was for observed scores from 12 to 28.
|
Observed Score |
Transformed Score |
|
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
14 |
|
12 |
23 |
|
13 |
29 |
|
14 |
33 |
|
15 |
37 |
|
16 |
40 |
|
17 |
43 |
|
18 |
34 |
|
19 |
47 |
|
20 |
50 |
|
21 |
52 |
|
22 |
54 |
|
23 |
57 |
|
24 |
59 |
|
25 |
62 |
|
26 |
65 |
|
27 |
69 |
|
28 |
73 |
|
29 |
78 |
|
30 |
86 |
|
31 |
100 |
