Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The feasibility, reliability and validity of the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire-Cardiff Short Form (MQOL-CSF) in palliative care population

  • Published:
Quality of Life Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In terminally-ill patients, effective measurement of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) needs to be done while imposing minimal burden. In an attempt to ensure that routine HRQoL assessment is simple but capable of eliciting adequate information, the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire-Cardiff Short Form (MQOL-CSF: 8 items) was developed from its original version, the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL: 17 items). Psychometric properties of the MQOL-CSF were then tested in palliative care patients consisting of 55 out-patients, 48 hospice patients and 86 in-patients. The MQOL-CSF had little respondent burden (mean completion time=3.3 min) and was evaluated as ‘very clear’ or ‘clear’ (98.2%), comprehensive (74.5%) and acceptable (96.4%). The internal consistency reliability was moderate to high (Cronbach’s α=0.462–0.858) and test-retest reliability (Spearman’s r s ) ranged from 0.512–0.861. Correlation was moderate to strong (0.478–0.725) between items in the short form and their analogous domains in the MQOL. Most MQOL-CSF items showed strong associations with their own domain (rs ≥ 0.40). Scores from MQOL-CSF significantly differentiated between patients with differing haemoglobin levels (p < 0.05). Construct validity was overall supported by principal component analysis. It is concluded that the MQOL-CSF is a feasible tool with favourable psychometric properties for routine HRQoL assessment in the palliative care population.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Welch LC. Quality of Life. http://www.chcr.brown.edu/pcoc/quality.htm 19/02/2001

  2. McMillan SC. Quality of Life Assessment in Palliative Care. http://www.moffitt.usf.edu/pubs/ccj/

  3. MA Richards P Hopwood AJ. Ramirez et al. (1992) ArticleTitleDoxorubicin in advanced breast cancer: Influence of schedule response, survival and quality of life Eur J Cancer. 28 IssueID(6/7 1023–1028

    Google Scholar 

  4. LA Bertsch G. Donaldson (1995) ArticleTitleQuality of life analyses from Vinorelbine (Navelbine) clinical trials of women with metastatic breast cancer Semin Oncol. 22 IssueID2 Suppl 5 45–54

    Google Scholar 

  5. SB Detmar NK. Aaronson (1998) ArticleTitleQuality of life assessment in daily oncology practice: A feasibility study Eur J Cancer. 34 IssueID8 1181–1186 Occurrence Handle9849476

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. SS Salek N Pratheepawanit IG. Finlay (2000) ArticleTitleUse of quality of life outcomes in routine assessment of patients with cancer: Breaking the barriers ONE. 1 IssueID3 42–46

    Google Scholar 

  7. CA O’Boyle D. Waldron (1997) ArticleTitleQuality of life issues in palliative medicine J Neurol. 244 IssueIDSuppl 4 S18–S25

    Google Scholar 

  8. IR Byock MP. Merriman (1998) ArticleTitleMeasuring quality of life for patients with terminal illness: The Missoula-VITAS quality of life index Palliat Med. 12 231–244 Occurrence Handle9743822

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. J Hearn IJ. Higginson (1999) ArticleTitleDevelopment and validation of a core outcome measure for palliative care: The palliative care outcome scale Qual Health Care. 8 219–227 Occurrence Handle10847883

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. SC McMillan M. Mahon (1994) ArticleTitleMeasuring quality of life in hospice patients using a newly developed Hospice Quality of Life Index Qual Life Res. 3 437–447 Occurrence Handle7866362

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. SR Cohen BM Mount MG Strobel F. Bui (1995) ArticleTitleThe McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire: A measure of quality of life appropriate for people with advanced disease. A preliminary study of validity and acceptability Palliat Med. 9 207–219 Occurrence Handle7582177

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. E Bruera N Kuehn MJ Miller P Selmser K. Macmillan (1991) ArticleTitleThe Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS): A simple method for the assessment of palliative care patients J Palliat Care. 7 IssueID2 6–9 Occurrence Handle1714502

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. IG Finlay R. Dunlop (1994) ArticleTitleQuality of life assessment in palliative care Ann Oncol. 5 13–18

    Google Scholar 

  14. S Donnelly D. Walsh (1996) ArticleTitleQuality of life assessment in advanced cancer Palliat Med. 10 275–283 Occurrence Handle8931062

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. NK. Aaronson (1991) ArticleTitleMethodologic issues in assessing the quality of life of cancer patients Cancer. 67 IssueIDSuppl 3 844–850 Occurrence Handle1986856

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. AF Bruin ParticleDe JPM Diederiks LP Witte ParticleDe FCJ Stevens H. Philipsen (1994) ArticleTitleThe development of a short generic version of the Sickness Impact Profile J Clin Epidemiol. 47 IssueID4 407–418 Occurrence Handle7730866

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. J Coste F Guillemin J Pouchot J. Fermanian (1997) ArticleTitleMethodological approaches to shortening composite measurement scales J Clin Epidemiol. 50 IssueID3 247–252 Occurrence Handle9120523

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. J Ribaudo D Cella E. Hahn et al. (2001) ArticleTitleRe-validation and shortening of the Functional Assessment of Anorexia/ Cachexia Therapy (FAACT) questionnaire Qual Life Res. 9 IssueID10 1137–1146

    Google Scholar 

  19. CAC Schag PA Ganz RL. Heinrich (1991) ArticleTitleCancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System-Short Form (CARES-SF): A cancer specific rehabilitation and quality of life instrument Cancer. 68 1406–1413 Occurrence Handle1873793

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. N Pratheepawanit MS Salek IG. Finlay (1999) ArticleTitleThe applicability of quality-of-life assessment in palliative care: Comparing two individual quality-of-life measures Palliat Med. 13 325–334 Occurrence Handle10659101

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. SR Cohen BM Mount JJN Tomas LF. Mount (1996) ArticleTitleExistential well-being is an important determinant of quality of life: Evidence from the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire Cancer. 77 576–586 Occurrence Handle8630968

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. SR Cohen BM Mount E Bruera M Provost J Rowe K. Tong (1997) ArticleTitleValidity of the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire in the palliative care setting: A multi-centre Canadian study demonstrating the importance of the existential domain Palliat Med. 11 3–20 Occurrence Handle9068681

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. M Annells T. Koch (2001) ArticleTitle‘The real stuff’: Implications for nursing of assessing and measuring a terminally ill person’s quality of life J Clin Nurs. 10 806–812 Occurrence Handle11822853

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. R Lo J Woo K Zhoc C Li W Yeo P. Johnson et al. (2001) ArticleTitleCross-cultural validation of the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire in Hong Kong Chinese Palliat Med. 15 IssueID5 387–397 Occurrence Handle11591090

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. G Secchi MG. Strepparava (2001) ArticleTitleThe quality of life in cancer patients: A cognitive approach Eur J Intern Med. 12 35–42 Occurrence Handle11173009

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. A Stromgren M Groenvold L Pedersen A Olsen P. Sjogren (2002) ArticleTitleSymptomatology of cancer patients in palliative care: Content validation of self-assessment questionnaires against medical records Eur J Cancer. 38 IssueID6 788–794 Occurrence Handle11937313

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. L Moran G Guyatt G. Norman (2001) ArticleTitleEstablishing the minimal number of items for a responsive, valid, health-related quality of life instrument J Clin Epidemiol. 54 571–579 Occurrence Handle11377117

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. JJ Ware C. Sherbourne (1992) ArticleTitleThe MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)- conceptual framework and item selection Med Care. 30 IssueID6 473–483 Occurrence Handle1593914

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. RA. Deyo (1984) ArticleTitleMeasuring functional outcomes in therapeutic trials for chronic disease Controlled Clin Trial. 5 223–240

    Google Scholar 

  30. G Guyatt D Feeny D. Patrick (1993) ArticleTitleMeasuring health-related quality of life Ann Intern Med. 118 622–629 Occurrence Handle8452328

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. K Bjordal A Graeff Particlede PM. Fayers et al. (2000) ArticleTitleA 12 country field study of the EORTC QLQ-C30 (version 3.0) and the head and neck specific module (EORTC QLQ-H&N35) in head and neck patients Eur J Cancer. 36 1796–1807 Occurrence Handle10974628

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. MF Muldoon SD Barger JD Flory SB. Manuck (1998) ArticleTitleWhat are quality of life measurements measuring? BMJ. 316 542–545 Occurrence Handle9501721

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. MR Stockler D Osoba P Corey P Goodwin IF. Tannock (1999) ArticleTitleConvergent, discriminative, and predictive validity of the Prostate Cancer Specific Quality of Life Instrument (PROSQOLI): Assessment and comparison with analogous scales from the EORTC QLQ-C30 and a trial-specific module J Clin Epidemiol. 52 IssueID7 653–666 Occurrence Handle10391659

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. D. Cella (1997) ArticleTitleThe Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Anaemia (FACT-An) Scale: A new tool for the assessment of outcomes in cancer anaemia and fatigue Semin Haematol. 34 IssueID3 Suppl 2 13–19

    Google Scholar 

  35. SB Yellen DF Cella K Webster C Blendowski E. Kaplan (1997) ArticleTitleMeasuring fatigue and other anemia-related symptoms with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) measurement system J Pain Symp Manage. 13 IssueID2 63–74

    Google Scholar 

  36. P. Sabbatini (2000) ArticleTitleTreating cancer symptoms improves quality of life. Part I: Treatment of anaemia and fatigue Intern J Pharm Med. 14 IssueID2 88–91

    Google Scholar 

  37. AK Wagner BG. Vickery (1995) ArticleTitleThe routine use of health-related quality of life measures in the care of patients with epilepsy: Rationale and research agenda Qual Life Res. 4 169–177 Occurrence Handle7780383

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. S McKenna L Doward J Alonso T Kohlmann M Niero L. Prieto et al. (1999) ArticleTitleThe QoL-AGHDA: An instrument for the assessment of quality of life in adults with growth hormone deficiency Qual Life Res. 8 IssueID4 373–383 Occurrence Handle10472170

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. P. Hopwood (1996) ArticleTitleQuality of life assessment in chemotherapy trials for non-small cell lung cancer: Are theory and practice significantly different? Semin Oncol. 23 IssueID5 Suppl 10 60–64

    Google Scholar 

  40. P. Hopwood (1992) ArticleTitleProgress, problems and priorities in quality of life research Eur J Cancer. 28 IssueID(10 1748–1752

    Google Scholar 

  41. A. Bowling (1995) Cancers A. Bowling (Eds) Measuring Disease Open University Press Buckingham 20–60

    Google Scholar 

  42. PD Cleary G Morrissey G. Oster (1995) ArticleTitleHealth-related quality of life in patients with advanced prostate cancer: A multinational perspective Qual Life Res. 4 207–220 Occurrence Handle7613531

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. MS Jordhoy S Kaasa P Fayers T Ovreness G Underland M. Ahlner-Elmqvist (1999) ArticleTitleChallenges in palliative care research; recruitment, attrition and compliance: Experience from a randomized controlled trial Palliat Med. 13 299–310 Occurrence Handle10659099

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. J. Nunnally (1978) Psychometric Theory EditionNumber2 McGraw-Hill Book Company New York

    Google Scholar 

  45. McLaughlin C, Marascuilo A. (1990). Instrumentation, reliability and validity: Selection, design, and evaluation of nursing measurement instruments. In: Advanced Nursing and Health Care Research. WB Saunders Company, Philadelphia, pp. 35–57

  46. F. Smith (1997) ArticleTitleSurvey research: (2) Survey instruments, reliability and validity Intern J Pharm Pract. 5 216–226

    Google Scholar 

  47. FCE Knippenberg Particlevan JCJM. Haes Particlede (1988) ArticleTitleMeasuring quality of life of cancer patients: Psychometric properties of instruments J Clin Epidemiol. 41 IssueID11 1043–1053 Occurrence Handle3060569

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. A Cull S Howat E. Greimel et al. (2001) ArticleTitleDevelopment of a European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Questionnaire module to assess the quality of life of ovarian cancer patients in clinical trials: A progress report Eur J Cancer. 37 47–53 Occurrence Handle11165129

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. S. Ahmedzai (1995) ArticleTitleRecent clinical trials of pain control: Impact on quality of life Eur J Cancer. 31 IssueIDSuppl 6 s2–s7

    Google Scholar 

  50. S Tang R. McCorkle (2002) ArticleTitleAppropriate time frames for data collection in quality of life research among cancer patients at the end of life Qual Life Res. 11 IssueID2 145–155 Occurrence Handle12018738

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Locked Bag 2073, 88999, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

    Pei Lin Lua

  2. Centre for Socioeconomic Research, Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University, Redwood Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3XF, UK

    Sam Salek

  3. University of Wales College of Medicine and Velindre NHS Trust, Cardiff, UK

    Ilora Finlay

  4. George Thomas Hospice Centre, Cardiff, UK

    Chris Lloyd-Richards

Authors
  1. Pei Lin Lua
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sam Salek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ilora Finlay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Chris Lloyd-Richards
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pei Lin Lua.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lua, P.L., Salek, S., Finlay, I. et al. The feasibility, reliability and validity of the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire-Cardiff Short Form (MQOL-CSF) in palliative care population. Qual Life Res 14, 1669–1681 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-005-2817-8

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-005-2817-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation