BACKGROUND

The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) scale, which was developed and validated in the USA, is widely used to measure the health-related quality of life in cancer patients. The purpose of the present study was to empirically validate the FACT-G scale with Korean breast cancer patients.

METHODS

A convenience sample of 193 women with breast cancer was recruited from a university hospital. The subjects were asked to complete the Korean version of the FACT-G scale. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation to determine factor construct validity. The loading criterion was set at 0.40 and above, inter-subscale correlations were computed using Pearson correlation, and the reliability of the internal consistency for the total scale and its subscales were assessed by Cronbach's alpha.

RESULTS

The factor structure of the Korean version of the FACT-G scale paralleled that of the English version: the physical, social/family, emotional, and functional well-being subscales were constructively valid in Korean breast cancer patients. However, there is the possibility of culture-specific differences in the social/family well-being subscale, and some problematic translations were revealed. Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was 0.89 and that for the subscales ranged from 0.78 to 0.90.

CONCLUSION

The Korean version of the FACT-G scale was demonstrated as reliable and valid. Therefore, the scale can be used in research and clinical settings to assess the quality of life of Korean breast cancer patients.