Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

Participants score each item on a 4-point scale in one of four categories: “Not at all”,
“A little”, “Quite a bit” and “Very much”. However, the two questions on Global QoL
are scored on a 7-point scale, which ranges from ”Very poor” to “Excellent”.
QLQ-C30 has been shown to be a reliable and valid measure in contexts where it has
been tested extensively for its psychometric properties (references in Michelson
2002). A manual with reference values describes formulae for summary statistics and
recommends formats for comparisons from groups of patients in “QoL Profiles”
(Fayers et al. 1998). Michelson (2002) investigated differences in health-related
quality of life between high-risk breast cancer patients and women of the
corresponding age in the general (Swedish) population. She found that global quality
of life in the treatment group, as measured with EORTC-QLQ-C30, was comparable
with the reference sample after two years, as were symptoms and emotional
functioning. This was one reason to limit the scope after discharge from hospital to
1,5-21 months.
The SOC (Antonovsky 1987; App. 4.5) was developed within a salutogenetic
framework in order to measure factors that promote improvement or health in the
presence of pathogenetic influences. It has been used within BMGIM research as an
appropriate measure of inner resources and growth potentials (Wrangsjö and Körlin
1995, Körlin and Wrangsjö 2002). SOC is a 29 items questionnaire focusing on QoL
understood as a global attitude towards life. Antonovsky defined SOC as “…a global
attitude the expresses the extent to which one has a pervasive, enduring though
dynamic feeling of confidence that (1) that stimuli deriving from one’s internal and
external environments in the course of living are structured, predictable, and
explicable; (2) the resources are available to one to meet the demands posed by these
stimuli; and (3) these demands are challenges worthy of investment and engagement.”
(Antonovsky 1987, p. 19)
Participants answered each question on a 7 point Likert scale (at Pre, Post, and
Follow-Up) within a spectrum from ”Never” to ”Always” (or similar). SOC is
composed of 3 subscales, corresponding to the three elements in the definition:
Meaningfulness (8 questions), Manageability (10), and Comprehensibility (11).
Cronbach’s alpha is reported to be 0.84 to 0.93. Normative data from different
(healthy) populations exist.
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