Skip to main content
    Wellbeing & burnout · 30 items · 3 subscales, 10–50 each · Stamm BH (2009). ProQOL.org

    Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL-5): Scoring, Cutoffs & Interpretation

    Thirty-item self-report measure of compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress in helping professionals.

    Download printable PDF
    ProQOL-50 / 30

    When you [help] people, you have direct contact with their lives. As you may have found, your compassion for those you [help] can affect you in positive and negative ways. Below are some questions about your experiences, both positive and negative, as a [helper]; note that the words [help] and [helper] can be replaced with more specific terms, such as [teach] and [teacher] or [nurse]. Consider each of the following questions about you and your current work situation. Select the number that honestly reflects how frequently you experienced these things in the last 30 days.

    Scored locally - nothing leaves this page

    01I am happy.
    02I am preoccupied with more than one person I [help].
    03I get satisfaction from being able to [help] people.
    04I feel connected to others.
    05I jump or am startled by unexpected sounds.
    06I feel invigorated after working with those I [help].
    07I find it difficult to separate my personal life from my life as a [helper].
    08I am not as productive at work because I am losing sleep over traumatic experiences of a person I [help].
    09I think that I might have been affected by the traumatic stress of those I [help].
    10I feel trapped by my job as a [helper].
    11Because of my [helping], I have felt "on edge" about various things.
    12I like my work as a [helper].
    13I feel depressed because of the traumatic experiences of the people I [help].
    14I feel as though I am experiencing the trauma of someone I have [helped].
    15I have beliefs that sustain me.
    16I am pleased with how I am able to keep up with [helping] techniques and protocols.
    17I am the person I always wanted to be.
    18My work makes me feel satisfied.
    19I feel worn out because of my work as a [helper].
    20I have happy thoughts and feelings about those I [help] and how I could help them.
    21I feel overwhelmed because my case [work] load seems endless.
    22I believe I can make a difference through my work.
    23I avoid certain activities or situations because they remind me of frightening experiences of the people I [help].
    24I am proud of what I can do to [help].
    25As a result of my [helping], I have intrusive, frightening thoughts.
    26I feel "bogged down" by the system.
    27I have thoughts that I am a "success" as a [helper].
    28I can't recall important parts of my work with trauma victims.
    29I am a very caring person.
    30I am happy that I chose to do this work.
    0 of 30 answered

    Scoring & cutoffs

    How scoring works.

    There is no total ProQOL score: the author states that no valid composite exists, so the measure reports three independent subscale scores. Items 1, 4, 15, 17 and 29 are reverse-scored first (1 becomes 5, 2 becomes 4, 3 stays 3, 4 becomes 2, 5 becomes 1), and all five belong to the burnout subscale. Each subscale is then the raw sum of its ten items and runs from 10 to 50. Raw sums are used throughout; t-scores are not calculated, because the published manual carries no conversion table and no raw means or standard deviations from which one could be derived.

    Compassion satisfaction

    10 items · 10–50

    Items 3, 6, 12, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 27, 30

    Low10–22
    Moderate23–41
    High42–50

    Burnout

    10 items · 10–50

    Items 1r, 4r, 8, 10, 15r, 17r, 19, 21, 26, 29r

    r = reverse-scored before summing

    Low10–22
    Moderate23–41
    High42–50

    Secondary traumatic stress

    10 items · 10–50

    Items 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 23, 25, 28

    Low10–22
    Moderate23–41
    High42–50

    The cut points sit at approximately the 25th and 75th percentiles of the author's databank. They are screening guidance only; the author recommends interpreting the continuous scores rather than the bands, and states that the ProQOL is not a diagnostic instrument.

    Attribution & licence

    Beth Hudnall Stamm (2009). Professional Quality of Life: Compassion Satisfaction and Fatigue Version 5 (ProQOL). www.ProQOL.org. This measure may be freely copied as long as (i) the author is credited, (ii) no changes are made, and (iii) that it is not sold. Ownership of the ProQOL measures transferred to the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) in 2016.

    Free to use and reproduce, subject to crediting the author, making no changes to the wording, and not selling it. The author's FAQ expressly permits reformatting the measure into an online form.

    Last reviewed: · Reviewed by Lotte Kjær Svalberg

    Related scales

    Instruments clinicians often use alongside this one

    wellbeing

    MBI

    Maslach Burnout Inventory

    Licensed 22-item burnout inventory (Mind Garden) with three subscales. Scoring, profiles, evidence and free alternatives explained; the questionnaire itself cannot be hosted here.

    Open scale

    wellbeing

    CBI

    Copenhagen Burnout Inventory

    A free 19-item measure of burnout across three separately scored subscales - personal, work-related and client-related - each reported on a 0–100 scale.

    Open scale

    Scale without compromise

    See how Aisel removes friction where it costs most. A 20-minute walkthrough tailored to your clinic.