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Verification of the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 palliative (EORTCQLQ-C15-PAL)

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Abstract

Purpose

We compared Japanese versions of the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL and QLQ-C30 to assess the utility of the former survey for terminal-phase cancer patients.

Methods

We used QLQ-C30 scores from the survey prior to each patient’s death and extracted QLQ-C15-PAL data. We determined intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of the five QLQ-C15-PAL subscales: physical functioning, emotional functioning, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, and global health status/quality of life (QOL) and assessed equivalent-form reliability. Regression analysis was used to determine the extent to which QLQ-C15-PAL items explained the QLQ-C30 score.

Results

Our study included 32 of 91 cancer patients receiving palliative care who could self-administer the questionnaire. The ICC between the QLQ-C15-PAL and QLQ-C30 scores was 0.93 or higher. The proportion of variance (R-squared) for each subscale was 0.87 or higher.

Conclusion

We examined the validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the QLQ-C15-PAL. We found an 87% or higher chance that the QLQ-C15-PAL could explain the original QLQ-C30 score. Therefore, QLQ-C15-PAL appears to be useful for assessing the QOL of terminal-phase cancer patients.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the study participants and Dr. Mari Saito of Yokohama City University. This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI (B) 21390161.

Conflicts of interest

None to report.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Informatics, School of Public Health, Kyoto University, Yoshida Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

    Kikuko Miyazaki & Takeo Nakayama

  2. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan

    Yoshimi Suzukamo

  3. Biomedical Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1, Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan

    Kojiro Shimozuma

Authors
  1. Kikuko Miyazaki
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  2. Yoshimi Suzukamo
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  3. Kojiro Shimozuma
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  4. Takeo Nakayama
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Correspondence to Kikuko Miyazaki.

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Miyazaki, K., Suzukamo, Y., Shimozuma, K. et al. Verification of the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 palliative (EORTCQLQ-C15-PAL). Qual Life Res 21, 335–340 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-9939-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-9939-y

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