Timothy P. Daaleman, DO Bruce B. Frey, PhD Dennis Wallace, PhD Stephanie A. Studenski, MD, MPH Kansas City and Lawrence, Kansas and Chapel Hill, North Carolina From the Department of Family Medicine (T.P.D.) and the Center on Aging (T.P.D.), (S.A.S.), University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS; Psychology and Research in Education, School of Education, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (B.B.F.); and Rho Inc., Chapel Hill, NC (D.W.). This study was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars Program (T.P.D.), the John A. Hartford Foundation (T.P.D.), Merck Research Laboratories (D.W., S.A.S.), and the Kansas Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (AG 14635; D.W., S.A.S.). This work was presented at the Annual Meeting of the North American Primary Care Research Group; November 5, 2000; Amelia Island, FL; and the Annual Meeting of the American Geriatrics Society; May 11, 2001; Chicago, IL.
In summary, the SIWB appears to be a valid and reliable measure of patient subjective well-being, one that is uncontaminated by the inclusion of religiosity. This instrument may be used in observational studies of chronic illness, aging, and end-of-life care that use spirituality as an explanatory or predictor variable of well-being. Future validation studies with multiple, diverse populations and a longitudinal design are needed to refine, modify, or verify the SIWB as an additional, complementary instrument of wellbeing.
Acknowledgments
We thank Lynn Maxwell, Annette Becker, Danielle Sirchak, Donna Clausen, June Belt, Marjoire Frank, and Lisa Rogers for their dedicated service in this study.
