Current advances in technology have enabled the development of a computer-based questionnaire that provides advantages over the paper-based mode of administration, such as automatic data entry, storage and calculations. However, before implementing a computer-based questionnaire, its equivalence with the original paper-based questionnaire must first be demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the measurement equivalence of the computerized Diabetes-Specific Quality-of-Life questionnaire (cD-QOL) with its original paper-based counterpart. A two-period crossover design was used in this study. The measurement equivalence was evaluated using quadratic weighted kappa coefficients, intraclass correlations and Cronbach's alpha comparisons. The cD-QOL was equivalent to its original paper-based counterpart. Participants preferred the cD-QOL over the paper-based questionnaire and reported that it was easy to use.
Keywords: diabetes; quality of life; questionnaire.
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