BACKGROUND: The Quality of Recovery-40 (QoR-40) is a widely-used, self-rated, and self-completed questionnaire for postoperative patients. The questionnaire is intended to elicit information from each patient regarding the quality of recovery during the postoperative period. It is noteworthy, however, that an official Korean version of the QoR-40 (QoR-40K) has not been established. The purpose of this study was to develop the QoR-40K by translation and cultural adaptation process and to evaluate the validity and reliability of the QoR-40K. METHODS: After pre-authorization from the original author of the QoR-40, the translation procedure was established and carried out based upon Beaton’s recommendation to create a QoR-40K model comparable to the original English QoR-40. Two hundred surgical patients were enrolled, and each completed the questionnaire during the preoperative period, on the third day, and 1 month after surgery. The QoR-40K was compared with the visual analogue scale (VAS) and another health-related questionnaire, the Short-form Health Survery-36 (SF-36). The method of validation for QoR-40K included test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and level of responsiveness. RESULTS: Spearman’s correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was 0.895 (P < 0.001), and Cronbach’s alpha of the global QoR-40K on the third day after surgery was 0.956. A positive correlation was obtained between the QoR-40K and the mental component summary of SF-36 (ρ = 0.474, P < 0.001), and a negative correlation was observed between QoR-40K and VAS (ρ = −0.341, P < 0.001). The standardized responsive mean of the total QoR-40K was 0.71. CONCLUSIONS: The QoR-40K was found to be as acceptable and reliable as the original English QoR-40 for Korean patients after surgery, despite the apparent differences in the respective patients’ cultural backgrounds.
Cross-Cultural Comparison ; Humans ; Methods ; Postoperative Period ; Preoperative Period ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results*

BACKGROUND: The current study evaluated the hemodynamic effects of different types of pneumatic compressions of the lower extremities during anesthesia induction. In addition, the hemodynamic effects were compared between patients older than 65 age years and those aged 65 years or younger. METHODS: One hundred and eighty patients (90: > 65 years and 90: ≤ 65 years) were enrolled. Each age group of patients was randomly assigned to one of three groups; Group 1 (no compression), Group 2 (sequential pneumatic compression), and Group 3 (sustained pneumatic compression without decompression). Invasive blood pressure, cardiac index (CI), and stroke volume variation (SVV) were measured. RESULTS: In patients aged ≤ 65 years, mean arterial pressure (MAP) and CI were significantly higher and SVV was lower in Group 3 compared to Group 1 before tracheal intubation, but there were no differences between Groups 1 and 2. However, there were no differences in MAP, CI, and SVV among the three groups in patients aged > 65 years. The number of patients who showed a MAP < 60 mmHg was less in Group 3 than Group 1 in patients aged ≤ 65 years, but not in patients aged > 65 years. CONCLUSIONS: Sustained pneumatic compression of the lower extremities has more hemodynamic stabilizing effects compared to sequential compression during anesthesia induction in patients aged 65 years or younger. However, no difference between methods of compression was observed in patients older than 65 years.
Anesthesia* ; Arterial Pressure ; Blood Pressure ; Hemodynamics* ; Humans ; Intubation ; Lower Extremity* ; Prospective Studies* ; Stroke Volume