Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Priority Research Centre for Cancer Research, Innovation and Translation, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2021 Apr 1;22(4):1055-1061. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2021.22.4.1055.
The survival rate of female breast cancer survivors has been reported to be higher than other types of cancer in Malaysia. Nonetheless, breast cancer survivors face new challenges from unwanted side effects of treatment or management such as fatigue, psychological disturbance, or arm swelling, which can lead to the decline of quality of life (QOL). This study aims to adapt the Malay version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B) to evaluate the QOL and to test its reliability and validity in Malaysian breast cancer survivors.
The Malay version of the FACT-B, with Disabilities of Arms, Shoulders and Hands (DASH), and Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety-Depression Scale (PHQ-ADS) were distributed to female breast cancer survivors which were recruited on a voluntary basis, from cancer support groups based in selected states in Malaysia. Reliability was assessed based on internal consistency (Cronbach's α), whereas concurrent validity was examined by comparing domains in FACT-B with DASH and PHQ-ADS. Finally, total scores of each domain were analysed between lymphedema and without lymphedema groups for known-group validity.
A total of 113 breast cancer survivors agreed to participate (response rate = 100%) in the study. Our results showed that the Cronbach's α value for Malay FACT-B is 0.88, and each domain ranged from 0.62 to 0.88. A strong correlation was found between the physical well-being domain of FACT-B with DASH. Meanwhile, the breast cancer scale (BCS) displayed significant correlation with the instrument, Patient Health Questionnaire- Anxiety Depression Scale (PHQ-ADS), indicating that multiple factors including psychological distress were measured in the BCS domain. Furthermore, the instrument was able to detect differences in physical, functional and QOL between participants from lymphedema and without lymphedema groups.
The Malay version of the FACT-B demonstrated reliable properties and is effective in assessing QOL and can be applied in Malaysian breast cancer survivors.
在马来西亚，女性乳腺癌幸存者的存活率报告高于其他类型的癌症。尽管如此，乳腺癌幸存者仍面临着治疗或管理带来的新挑战，如疲劳、心理困扰或手臂肿胀，这些都会导致生活质量（QOL）下降。本研究旨在改编马来语版的癌症治疗功能评估-乳房（FACT-B），以评估马来西亚乳腺癌幸存者的 QOL，并测试其在该人群中的可靠性和有效性。
从马来西亚选定州的癌症支持小组中招募了自愿参与的女性乳腺癌幸存者，并向她们发放了马来语版的 FACT-B、手臂、肩膀和手障碍量表（DASH）和患者健康问卷焦虑抑郁量表（PHQ-ADS）。可靠性基于内部一致性（Cronbach's α）进行评估，而同时效度则通过比较 FACT-B 中的领域与 DASH 和 PHQ-ADS 进行检验。最后，分析了有和没有淋巴水肿的患者之间每个领域的总分，以评估已知组的有效性。
共有 113 名乳腺癌幸存者同意参与研究（应答率=100%）。我们的结果表明，马来语 FACT-B 的 Cronbach's α 值为 0.88，每个领域的范围为 0.62 至 0.88。FACT-B 的身体状况领域与 DASH 之间存在很强的相关性。同时，乳腺癌量表（BCS）与该工具，即患者健康问卷焦虑抑郁量表（PHQ-ADS）有显著相关性，这表明 BCS 领域测量了包括心理困扰在内的多个因素。此外，该工具能够检测到有和没有淋巴水肿的患者在身体、功能和 QOL 方面的差异。
马来语版的 FACT-B 具有可靠的特性，能够有效地评估 QOL，可应用于马来西亚的乳腺癌幸存者。
