Introduction: The examination of health-related quality of life plays essential role in the up-to-date assessment of medical interventions. Developed from the collaborative work of 15 culturally diverse centres in conjunction with the World Health Organisation (WHO), two generic measures of QOL exist (the WHOQOL-100 and the WHOQOL-BREF). Although widely used, both measures were developed principally for use in younger adult populations. However, because of particular role of their permanent medical conditions the elderly may need the assessment of QOL even more strongly than younger people do. A study called WHOQOL-OLD project, funded by European Committee is developing a new version of the WHOQOL-100 applicable at persons over 60.

Aims and objectives: The principal aim of the study to develop and allocate the new instrument on own language to each countries contributing to the research. This study intends to identify attitudes to ageing and to test the new measure (WHOQOL-OLD) in an innovative cross-cultural study of healthy ageing. The WHOQOL-OLD will be field tested with groups of older adults from a wide variety of cultures also assessed on a range of psychosocial, socio-economic and health related measures in order to assess factors that contribute to healthy or unhealthy ageing. The study will therefore allow an examination of whether the concept of successful ageing is culture specific or whether there are common features that generalise across cultures. Consequently, investigations will answer the question of whether it is possible to have a single cross-cultural Older Adults module or whether each culture requires its own culture-specific module.

Describing the process: The objectives will be attained through 10 substantial steps. 1. Review of the current WHOQOL-100. 2. To run focus groups with older adults, with relevant professionals, with carers of older adults. 3. Pilot Module = Item generation by the coordinating group working in English, then translation and back translation of items. 4. Pilot Data Collection. 5. Pilot Data Analyses. 6. Field Trial Module =To produce the field trial version of the Older Adults. 7. Attitudes to Ageing Measure: =To produce an Attitudes to Ageing questionnaire. 8. Field Trial Field testing of the Older Adults WHOQOL and the Question of Healthy Ageing. 9. Field Data Analyses. 10. Publication and dissemination.

Current activity: The stage called Pilot Data Collection comprises the tasks to collect data from respondents according to the sampling criteria and to code the data and return to the coordinating centre. We are obliged to collect pilot data from a minimum of 300 older adults (equal numbers of ill versus well, equal numbers of age 60-70, 70-80 and 80+ years, and equal numbers of gender.) Pilot data will be gained by using the WHOQOL-OLD module, the WHOQOL-100, sociodemographic questionnaire, questions of importance and comorbid conditions to be filled in by respondents after they have been informed.