McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire

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Cohen, S. R., Mount, B. M., Tomas, J. J. N., & Mount, L. F. (1996). Existential well-being is an important determinant of quality of life : Evidence from the McGill quality of life questionnaire. Cancer, 77(3), 576–586.
General information
Purpose The McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire is a 17-item multidimensional tool designed to measure physical well-being, physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, existential well-being and support, as well as overall quality of life. Created for people at all stages of a life-threatening illness (from diagnosis to cure or death), the MQOL was designed to assess general domains […]
Domain(s) Goal Pursuit
Life Satisfaction
Positive Affect
Quality of Life
Sense of Meaning
Target population Adult, Child
Number of items 17
Administration format self-report
Additional formats
Alternate forms

MQOL-Revised (MQOL-R) is a revised version of the original MQOL and assesses the same four domains: Physical, Psychological, Existential, and Social (called Relationships in the original MQOL). , MQOL-Expanded (MQOL-E) includes MQOL-R plus four new domains that are important to the quality of life of palliative care patients near the end of life. The new domains are: Burden; Environment; Healthcare; Cognition.

Availability in other languages French, Spanish
Fee for use
Free
Related information on use of the measure

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Non-exhaustive list of psychometric studies

Bentur, N., & Resnizky, S. (2005). Validation of the McGill quality of life questionnaire in home hospice settings in Israel. Palliative Medicine, 19(7), 538-544. doi:10.1191/0269216305pm1052oa


Gofton, T. E., Kumar, H., Roberts-South, A., Speechley, M., & Jog, M. S. (2015). Validity reliability, and insights from applying the McGill quality of life questionnaire to people living with Parkinson’s disease (MQoL-PD). Journal of Palliative Care, 31(4), 213-220. doi:10.1177/082585971503100402


Henry, M., Huang, L. N., Ferland, M. K., Mitchell, J., & Cohen, S. R. (2008). Continued study of the psychometric properties of the McGill quality of life questionnaire. Palliative Medicine, 22(6), 718-723. doi:10.1177/0269216308094519


Hu, L., Li, J., Wang, X., Payne, S., Chen, Y., & Mei, Q. (2015). Prior study of cross-cultural validation of McGill quality-of-life questionnaire in mainland mandarin Chinese patients with cancer. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 32(7), 709-714. doi:10.1177/1049909114537400


Hu, W. -., Dai, Y. -., Berry, D., & Chiu, T. -. (2003). Psychometric testing of the translated McGill quality of life questionnaire-Taiwan version in patients with terminal cancer. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association, 102(2), 97-104. Retrieved from www.scopus.com


Kim, S. H., Gu, S. K., Yun, Y. H., Lee, C. G., Choi, Y. S., Lee, W. S., . . . Heo, D. S. (2007). Validation study of the Korean version of the McGill quality of life questionnaire. Palliative Medicine, 21(5), 441-447. doi:10.1177/0269216307079816


Lo, R. S. K., Woo, J., Zhoc, K. C. H., Li, C. Y. P., Yeo, W., Johnson, P., . . . Lee, J. (2001). Cross-cultural validation of the McGill quality of life questionnaire in Hong Kong Chinese. Palliative Medicine, 15(5), 387-397. doi:10.1191/026921601680419438


Lua, P. L., Salek, M. S., Finlay, I. G., Boay, A. G. I., & Rahimah, M. S. (2005). The feasibility, reliability, and validity of the Malay McGill quality of life questionnaire - Cardiff short form (MMQOL-CSF) in Malaysian advanced cancer population. Medical Journal of Malaysia, 60(1), 28-40. Retrieved from www.scopus.com


Robin Cohen, S., & Mount, B. M. (2000). Living with cancer: 'good' days and 'bad' days - what produces them? can the McGill quality of life questionnaire distinguish between them? Cancer, 89(8), 1854-1865. doi:10.1002/1097-0142(20001015)89:83.0.CO;2-C


Robin Cohen, S., Mount, B. M., Strobel, M. G., & Bui, F. (1995). The McGill quality of life questionnaire: A measure of quality of life appropriate for people with advanced disease. A preliminary study of validity and acceptability. Palliative Medicine, 9(3), 207-219. doi:10.1177/026921639500900306


Robin Cohen, S., Russell, L. B., Leis, A., Shahidi, J., Porterfield, P., Kuhl, D. R., . . . Sawatzky, R. (2019). More comprehensively measuring quality of life in life-threatening illness: The McGill quality of life questionnaire - expanded. BMC Palliative Care, 18(1) doi:10.1186/s12904-019-0473-y


Sguazzin, C., Giorgi, I., Alesii, A., & Fini, M. (2010). Italian validation of the McGill quality of life questionnaire (MQOL-it). Giornale Italiano Di Medicina Del Lavoro Ed Ergonomia, 32(3 SUPPL. B), B58-B62. Retrieved from www.scopus.com


Shahidi, J., Khodabakhshi, R., Gohari, M. R., Yahyazadeh, H., & Shahidi, N. (2008). McGill quality of life questionnaire: Reliability and validity of the Persian version in Iranian patients with advanced cancer. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 11(4), 621-626. doi:10.1089/jpm.2007.0173


Tsujikawa, M., Yokoyama, K., Urakawa, K., & Onishi, K. (2009). Reliability and validity of Japanese version of the McGill quality of life questionnaire assessed by application in palliative care wards. Palliative Medicine, 23(7), 659-664. doi:10.1177/0269216309106875

Additional information

If you are interested in using the MQLI please complete a user agreement form to obtain a copy. User forms should be sent to Dr. Cohen at robin.cohen@mcgill.ca