Evaluation of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General Questionnaire (FACT-G) in a South American Spanish speaking population.

There is an increasing interest by health care providers, not only in the effectiveness of cancer treatments, but also in patients' quality of life (QOL). The objective of the present study is to validate the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) Version 2 as a measure of the QOL in a sample of 140 Uruguayan patients with cancer of varied sites, at different stages of the disease and under different forms of treatment. Reliability of the FACT-G was evaluated and showed high coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) in each of the subscales and in the total questionnaire score. It was also capable of discriminating among different groups of patients. We conclude that the FACT-G is a brief and easy to use questionnaire, that showed acceptable reliability and validity and good feasibility for use as a research instrument among Uruguayan cancer patients. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.