TRADEOFFS BETWEEN QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF LIFE - DEVELOPMENT OF THE QQ QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CANCER-PATIENT ATTITUDES

The patient's perspective is of prime concern in weighing the benefits and side effects of oncologic treatment. Little is known about patien ts' preferences and attitudes. The authors developed a short questionn aire to assess patient attitudes concerning tradeoffs between quality of life and length, or quantity, of life (the QQ Questionnaire). The q uestionnaire turned out to be feasible for use in various groups of ca ncer patients. In a factor analysis, the questionnaire was shown to co nsist of two factors, a Q(uality) and a L(ength) factor. Values of Cro nbach's alpha for the Q and L scales (consisting of four items each) w ere 0.68 and 0.79, respectively. Younger patients and patients who hav e children assigned relatively more importance to striving for prolong ed survival. Contrary to our expectation, no association was found bet ween scores on the two scales and time tradeoff utility scores. The QQ Questionnaire can be used in research settings to study patient attit udes and the stability and determinants of patients' preferences.