Davda Jasmine, Kibet Hillary, Achieng Emmah, Atundo Lawrence, Komen Truphena
Certara Inc., Princeton, NJ, USA.
International Cancer Institute, Eldoret, Kenya.
J Patient Rep Outcomes. 2021 Jan 7;5(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s41687-020-00275-w.
In oncology practice, eliciting the patient's perspective on their quality of life (QOL) adds important information and value to their treatment and care. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QOL questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) is the most commonly used tool for this purpose but has not been validated in Kenya. The present study aimed to conduct a preliminary assessment of the QOL among Kenyan cancer patients and examine the psychometric properties of the tool in this population. One hundred patients with heterogeneous types of cancer were enrolled in this cross-sectional study between July and August 2019. The EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire was administered to patients using either the English or Kiswahili official version. Descriptive statistics were used to assess patient demographics and clinical characteristics. The psychometric properties of the EORTC QLQ-C30 were evaluated in terms of acceptability, internal consistency, and construct validity using statistical software packages, STATA and SPSS.
The EORTC QLQ-C30 was found to be acceptable for use in our patient population as indicated by high compliance and low missing responses. Of the 100 patients, 66 were able to self-administer the questionnaire. The average time for completion was 13 min. Preliminary QOL assessment indicated an average QOL in Kenyan cancer patients (53 ± 27). Among the function scales, participants scored the lowest on the social function scale (51 ± 36) whereas among the symptom scales, participants scored the highest on the financial difficulties scale (79 ± 31). Cronbach's alpha coefficient values ranged from 0.72-0.95, illustrating the reliability of the scales measured. Interscale correlations were statistically significant (p < 0.05), indicating clinical validity of the data collected. The magnitudes of the correlations between the physical functioning scale and the role functioning, pain, and fatigue scales were consistent with the values published in other studies across different geographical populations, further cross-validating the results from our study.
The results from this study provide important first insights into using EORTC QLQ-C30 in the Kenyan population. We conclude that the questionnaire is an acceptable, reliable, and valid instrument for measuring the QOL in cancer patients in Kenya and recommend its use in clinical practice.
在肿瘤学实践中，了解患者对其生活质量（QOL）的看法可为其治疗和护理增添重要信息和价值。欧洲癌症研究与治疗组织生活质量问卷（EORTC QLQ-C30）是用于此目的最常用工具，但尚未在肯尼亚得到验证。本研究旨在对肯尼亚癌症患者的生活质量进行初步评估，并检验该工具在这一人群中的心理测量特性。2019年7月至8月期间，100例患有不同类型癌症的患者被纳入这项横断面研究。使用英文或斯瓦希里语官方版本的EORTC QLQ-C30问卷对患者进行施测。描述性统计用于评估患者的人口统计学和临床特征。使用统计软件包STATA和SPSS，从可接受性、内部一致性和结构效度方面对EORTC QLQ-C30的心理测量特性进行评估。
高依从性和低缺失回答表明，EORTC QLQ-C30在我们的患者群体中使用是可接受的。100例患者中，66例能够自行完成问卷。完成问卷的平均时间为13分钟。初步生活质量评估表明，肯尼亚癌症患者的生活质量平均分为（53±27）。在功能量表中，参与者在社会功能量表上得分最低（51±36），而在症状量表中，参与者在经济困难量表上得分最高（79±31）。克朗巴哈α系数值范围为0.72 - 0.95，表明所测量表的可靠性。量表间相关性具有统计学意义（p < 0.05），表明所收集数据的临床效度。身体功能量表与角色功能、疼痛和疲劳量表之间的相关性大小与其他针对不同地理人群的研究中公布的值一致，进一步交叉验证了我们研究的结果。
本研究结果为在肯尼亚人群中使用EORTC QLQ-C30提供了重要的初步见解。我们得出结论，该问卷是测量肯尼亚癌症患者生活质量的一种可接受、可靠且有效的工具，并建议在临床实践中使用。
