DEVELOPMENT OF A -ORGANIZATION-FOR-RESEARCH-AND-TREATMENT-OF-CANCER (EORTC) QUESTIONNAIRE MODULE TO BE USED IN QUALITY-OF-LIFE ASSESSMENTS IN HEAD AND NECK-CANCER PATIENTS

A head and neck cancer specific questionnaire module designed to be us ed in quality of life assessments before, during, and after radiothera py and surgery, with or without combinations with chemotherapy has bee n developed in accordance with guidelines given by the EORTC Quality o f Life Study Group. Relevant issues were generated by means of literat ure search, and interviews with specialists and patients. Pre-testing of a preliminary questionnaire module was performed in patients from N orway, Sweden, Denmark, United Kingdom and French-speaking Belgium. Th e resulting head and neck cancer module, the EORTC QLQ-H&N37, includes 37 items concerning disease and treatment related symptoms, social fu nction and sexuality. By using a combination of the general EORTC QLQ- C30 and the EORTC QLQ-H&N37, health-related quality of life measuremen ts may be compared between studies in different cancer populations, an d still be sensitive to changes in the target population.