Lo, Christopher, Burman, Debika, Swami, Nadia, Gagliese, Lucia, Rodin, Gary, and Zimmermann, Camilla (2011) Validation of the QUAL-EC for assessing quality of life in patients with advanced cancer. European Journal of Cancer Care, 47. pp. 554-560.

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Abstract

Objective: Improving quality of life is the main goal of palliative cancer care. However, there is a lack of measures validated specifically for advanced cancer. The purpose of this study was to validate the Quality of Life at the End of Life (QUAL-E) measure in a sample of patients with advanced cancer.

Methods: Data were analysed for 464 patients with advanced cancer who were participating in a randomised controlled trial of early palliative care intervention versus routine care. Patients completed the 26-item QUAL-E, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT-G) quality of life measure and measures of spiritual well-being, performance status, symptom burden, satisfaction with care and communication with health care providers. We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis on the QUAL-E to test for the hypothesised four-factor structure and examined construct validity by calculating correlations with relevant scales.

Results: A 17-item reduced version of the QUAL-E, the QUAL-E-Cancer (QUAL-EC) achieved an acceptable fit to a four-factor model. Both the full and reduced versions of the QUAL-E were internally reliable and showed good construct validity. Symptom Control was correlated with other measures of physical functioning; Relationship with Healthcare Provider was correlated with satisfaction with care and better physician and nurse communication; Preparation for End of Life was strongly associated with emotional well-being; and Life Completion was strongly associated with social and spiritual well-being.

Conclusions: Due to its good factor structure and sound psychometrics, we recommend the reduced QUAL-EC scale to assess quality of life in patients with advanced cancer.

Item ID:	69166
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1365-2354
Copyright Information:	© 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Date Deposited:	18 Dec 2024 01:40
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology @ 100%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2002 Evaluation of health and support services > 200202 Evaluation of health outcomes @ 100%
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