The development of the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL: A shortened questionnaire for cancer patients in palliative care

• Published in: European journal of cancer (1990) Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 55 - 64
• Main Authors: Groenvold, Mogens, Petersen, Morten Aa, Aaronson, Neil K., Arraras, Juan I., Blazeby, Jane M., Bottomley, Andrew, Fayers, Peter M., de Graeff, Alexander, Hammerlid, Eva, Kaasa, Stein, Sprangers, Mirjam A.G., Bjorner, Jakob B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition Disorders - psychology; Constipation - psychology; Cost of Illness; Dyspnea - psychology; Emotions; EORTC; Fatigue - psychology; Feeding and Eating Disorders - psychology; Health Status; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Nausea - psychology; Neoplasms - psychology; Neoplasms - therapy; Pain - psychology; Palliative care; Palliative Care - standards; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Quality of Life; Questionnaires; Self-assessment; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; Treatment outcome; Tumors; Vomiting - psychology; Treatment outcome; Health status; EORTC; Questionnaires; Palliative care; Self-assessment; Quality of life; Human; Prognosis; Questionnaire; Self evaluation; Pharmacology; Malignant tumor; Cancerology; Treatment; EORTC Quality of life Palliative care Questionnaires Health status Self-assessment Treatment outcome; European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer
• ISSN: 0959-8049; 1879-0852
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2005.06.022

This study aimed at developing a shortened version of the EORTC QLQ-C30, one of the most widely used health-related quality of life questionnaires in oncology, for palliative care research. The study included interviews with 41 patients and 66 health care professionals in palliative care to determine the appropriateness, relevance and importance of the various domains of the QLQ-C30. Item response theory methods were used to shorten scales. Patients and health care professionals rated pain, physical function, emotional function, fatigue, global health status/quality of life, nausea/vomiting, appetite, dyspnoea, constipation, and sleep as most important. Therefore, these scales/items were retained in the questionnaire. Four scales were shortened without reducing measurement precision. Important dimensions not covered by the questionnaire were identified. The resulting 15-item EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL is a ‘core questionnaire’ for palliative care. Depending on the research questions, it may be supplemented by additional items, modules or questionnaires.