The EORTC QLQ-CX24 cervical cancer-specific quality of life questionnaire: psychometric properties in a South Asian sample of cervical cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: The cervical cancer-specific Quality of Life module of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, EORTC QLQ-CX24, was recently validated in an international field study that did not include cervical cancer patients from South Asia. The aim of our study was to assess the psychometric properties of the instrument in a sample of cervical cancer patients from Sri Lanka to assess its suitability for use in the South Asian region.

METHODS: One hundred and twelve newly diagnosed patients with cervical cancer completed the translated version of the QLQ-CX24 in a cross-sectional validation study. Psychometric evaluation assessed the instrument for scale structure, scale reliability, validity and acceptability.

RESULTS: The QLQ-CX24 was found to be patient-friendly with high compliance and low missing data. Only a few patients needed assistance for completion. Overall results for multitrait scaling analysis confirmed the scale structure although some items of the symptom experience scale exhibited problems regarding item-scale correlations with its own scale. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for internal consistency ranging from 0.63 to 0.79 confirmed scale reliability. Construct validity was confirmed in two ways: the inter-scale correlations were statistically significant (p<0.01) and their magnitude moderate (r = 0.52-0.58) while the scales and single-item measures were able to discriminate between subgroups of patients differing with regard to treatment status.

CONCLUSION: The translated version of the QLQ-CX24 is a reliable and valid instrument to measure cervical cancer-specific Quality of Life in Sri Lanka. The overall results are in line with the findings of the international field study.