Psychometric Properties of the Urdu Version of the EORTC QLQ-H&N35 (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Head and Neck Module) Quality of Life Tool

Overview

Journal BMC Psychol

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Psychology

Date 2022 Aug 7

PMID 35934706

Authors

Nida Zahid

Russell Seth Martins

Wajeeha Zahid

Iqbal Azam

Mubasher Ikram

Aneesa Hassan

Shireen Shehzad Bhamani

Adnan Abdul Jabbar

Nargis Asad

Shabbir Akhtar

Moghira Iqbaluddin Siddiqui

Mohammad Sohail Awan

Khabir Ahmad

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: We translated and validated the Urdu version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life (QoL) Questionnaire's Head and Neck (H&N) Cancer Module (EORTC QLQ-H&N35) and assessed its convergent and discriminant validity by examining correlations of QoL with depression, anxiety, and resilience.

Methods: We translated the EORTC QLQ-H&N35 according to EORTC instructions. Patients at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan completed a survey consisting of Urdu versions of EORTC QLQ-C30 (core QoL tool), QLQ-H&N35, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (RS-14). Content validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and reliability (using Cronbach's alpha) of the EORTC QLQ-H&N35 were assessed.

Results: Our sample comprised 250 patients with H&N cancer, most commonly oral (82%). The Urdu translations were comprehensible for all patients. The Cronbach alpha for QLQ-H&N35 multi-item domains ranged from 0.75 to 0.98 (acceptable to excellent), barring "Senses Problems", which was less than the generally acceptable level (0.50). The patient-reported content validity index (CVI) scores for relevance and clarity of the Urdu version of the QLQ-H&N35 were 0.93 and 0.92, respectively (both excellent). Our results revealed weak bidirectional correlations of the QLQ-H&N35 with resilience, depression, and anxiety, showing good discriminant validity. A weak-to-moderate but significant negative correlation (r: - 0.185 to - 0.613; p < 0.01) was seen between the QLQ-H&N35 and the global QoL measure of the QLQ-30.

Conclusion: Our Urdu translation of the EORTC QLQ-H&N35 demonstrated validity comparable to previous studies, with good discriminant construct validity when measured against resilience, depression, and anxiety. An issue of concern is the poor internal consistency of the "Senses Problems" domain. Nevertheless, the Urdu translation produced in this study serves as a valid and reliable measure to measure QoL in H&N cancer in clinical or research settings in Pakistan.

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