Translation and Validation of the Korean Version of the Postoperative Quality of Recovery Score QoR-15

Quality of recovery after anesthesia is an important measure of the early postoperative health status of patients. The Quality of Recovery-15 (QoR-15) questionnaire is a self-rated questionnaire used to assess the quality of postoperative recovery. This study is aimed at translating and validating the Korean version of QoR-15 (QoR-15K). One hundred fifty patients were included in this study. We translated the original version of QoR-15 into QoR-15K and evaluated its validity, reliability, responsiveness, and clinical feasibility. QoR-15K showed acceptable criterion, structure, and construct validities. Reliability was verified using Cronbach's α (0.856), standard error of measurement (10.78), split-half reliability (0.831), test-retest reliability (ρ = 0.945, P ≤ 0.001), and intraclass correlation test-retest (ρ = 0.903, P ≤ 0.001). These results represent an acceptable reliability. Responsiveness was verified using Cohen's effect size (1.39), standardized response mean (1.03), and the correlation between QoR-15K score and duration of anesthesia (ρ = −0.197, P = 0.016). These results show acceptable responsiveness. The mean ± standard deviation time to complete QoR-15K was 138.1 ± 30.7 s. QoR-15K was rated more than adequate on the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments checklist. In conclusion, QoR-15K shows acceptable validity, reliability, responsiveness, and clinical feasibility and may help evaluate postoperative quality of recovery in Korean populations.