EORTC QL Cut-Off Scores
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development of cut-off scores for symptom screening with the EORTC quality of life scales and evaluation of graphical presentation styles for quality of life results including these cut-offs
IRAS ID
145602
Contact name
Teresa Young
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
East & North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
Research summary
Summary of Results
Availability of thresholds scores for clinical importance for quality of life domains could help to increase their interpretability. Patients scoring above the threshold score should be investigated and an intervention offered if appropriate. The aim of our study was to identify thresholds for clinical importance for four EORTC QLQ-C30 scales: Physical Functioning (PF), Emotional Functioning (EF), Pain (PA) and Fatigue (FA).We recruited adult cancer patients from Austria, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK. No restrictions were placed on diagnosis or type or stage of treatment. Patients completed the QLQ-C30 and three anchor items assessing their perceived burden, any limitations in daily activities and any need for help with relation to their PF, EF, PA and FA. The responses to the anchor items were merged to obtain a Yes ( Clinically important, so offer of investigation and intervention ) or No response for each scale. Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) analysis was then used investigate the variation in scale scores for "Yes" and "No" patients and determine the best threshold score to avoid missing too many true positives or falsely identifying negatives who do not require unnecessary investigations.
In our sample of 548 cancer patients (mean age 60.6 years; 54 % female), the QLQ-C30 scales showed high diagnostic accuracy in identifying patients reporting burden, limitations and/or need for help related to PF, EF, PA and FA. All areas under the curve were above 0.86.
We were able to estimate thresholds for clinical importance for four QLQ-C30 scales. When used in daily clinical practice, these thresholds can help to identify patients with clinically important problems requiring further exploration and possibly intervention by health care professionals. Subsequent amendments extended the study methodology to estimate thresholds for all the QL domains (both functional an symptoms) covered by EORTC QLQ-C30.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/0453
Date of REC Opinion
16 Apr 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion