Evaluation of the Cancer Dependent Quality of Life measure version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of an individualised quality of life questionnaire for use in people with cancer, the Cancer Dependent Quality of Life (“CancerDQoL”) questionnaire.
IRAS ID
262438
Contact name
Clare Bradley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Holloway University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 1 days
Research summary
There were 334,466 cancer diagnoses in England and Scotland in 2016 (National Services Scotland, 2018; Office for National Statistics, 2018). Cancer and its treatment can have a profound impact on a person’s QoL and well-being and it is crucial to be able to assess this accurately.
Previous measures of ‘health-related quality of life’ (HRQoL) focussed on health status and health function as indicators of QoL (Bradley, 2001) or have made assumptions about which aspects of life are important to an individual’s QoL without enabling input about importance from respondents (Groenvold et al., 1997).
The present study intends to develop and evaluate, for use in a UK population, an individualised cancer-specific measure, the Cancer Dependent Quality of Life (CancerDQoL) questionnaire, which aims to determine both the impact of cancer on each relevant life domain and the importance of that domain for QoL. The present study will build upon previous design work of the CancerDQoL with Zimbabwean Cancer patients by (i) seeking structured feedback from a selection of UK clinicians and cancer patients to check the content and wording for use in the UK, and (ii) evaluating the psychometric structure and establishing the reliability and preliminary aspects of validity.
The study will employ a cross-sectional design. We are in the process of inviting 10 participants to undertake ‘cognitive debriefing interviews’ to gain structured feedback about the CancerDQoL measure as part of the first stage of the project. Feedback from the cognitive debriefing interviews will be discussed by the research team and incorporated into the final version of the measure, where appropriate, prior to the second stage which will involve establishing the psychometric structure, reliability and preliminary validity of the CancerDQoL. One hundred and fifty participants will be invited to complete the CancerDQoL alongside a battery of questionnaires related to QoL.REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1605
Date of REC Opinion
6 Nov 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion