THE EORTC CORE QUALITY-OF-LIFE QUESTIONNAIRE (QLQ-C30) - VALIDITY ANDRELIABILITY WHEN ANALYZED WITH PATIENTS TREATED WITH PALLIATIVE RADIOTHERAPY

The EORTC Core Quality of Life questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) is design ed to measure cancer patients' physical, psychological and social func tions. The questionnaire is composed of multi-item scales and single i tems. 247 patients completed the EORTC QLQ-C30 before palliative radio therapy and 181 after palliative radiotherapy. The questionnaire was w ed accepted with a high completion rate in the present patient populat ion consisting of advanced cancer patients with short life expectancy. In addition, the questionnaire was found to be useful to detect the e ffect of palliative radiotherapy over time. The scale reliability was excellent for all scales except the role functioning scale. Excellent criterion validity was found for the emotional functioning scale where it was correlated with GHQ-20. Performance of the questionnaire was i mproved after the second evaluation as compared with the first. The pr esent study shears that the EORTC QLQ-C30 is found to be practical and valid in measuring quality of life in patients with advanced disease.