PURPOSE: The impact of treatment on the health related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients is being recognized with increasing importance, particularly in those with urological malignancies. However, a validated disease and treatment specific instrument to assess HRQOL following radical cystectomy (RC) and urinary diversion (UD) is currently lacking. We report the results of a new questionnaire designed specifically to measure HRQOL in these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 45-item questionnaire consisting of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT)-General and 17 additional items designed to measure disease and treatment specific health outcomes were combined to form the Vanderbilt Cystectomy Index (FACT-VCI). FACT-VCI and the generic RAND 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) were administered to 50 patients from our institution RC data base who were more than 1 year from the time of surgery. Each patient was asked to complete the survey at 1 and 4 weeks. The results of the SF-36 and FACT-VCI were correlated along with the first and second administration of the FACT-VCI. RESULTS: Overall FACT-VCI was found to have adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.70). Furthermore, intraclass correlation for the first and second administration of the VCI was 0.79. In addition, there was good correlation between the validated SF-36 and FACT-VCI (r = 0.81). The result was initial validation of a questionnaire for the assessment of HRQOL in patients following RC and UD. CONCLUSIONS: Instruments designed to measure accurately HRQOL following RC and UD are in early development. We have now constructed and validated a disease and treatment specific questionnaire that can objectively assess HRQOL following RC and UD. A prospective longitudinal study of FACT-VCI is currently ongoing.
PURPOSE: The impact of treatment on the health related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients is being recognized with increasing importance, particularly in those with urological malignancies. However, a validated disease and treatment specific instrument to assess HRQOL following radical cystectomy (RC) and urinary diversion (UD) is currently lacking. We report the results of a new questionnaire designed specifically to measure HRQOL in these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 45-item questionnaire consisting of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT)-General and 17 additional items designed to measure disease and treatment specific health outcomes were combined to form the Vanderbilt Cystectomy Index (FACT-VCI). FACT-VCI and the generic RAND 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) were administered to 50 patients from our institution RC data base who were more than 1 year from the time of surgery. Each patient was asked to complete the survey at 1 and 4 weeks. The results of the SF-36 and FACT-VCI were correlated along with the first and second administration of the FACT-VCI. RESULTS: Overall FACT-VCI was found to have adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.70). Furthermore, intraclass correlation for the first and second administration of the VCI was 0.79. In addition, there was good correlation between the validated SF-36 and FACT-VCI (r = 0.81). The result was initial validation of a questionnaire for the assessment of HRQOL in patients following RC and UD. CONCLUSIONS: Instruments designed to measure accurately HRQOL following RC and UD are in early development. We have now constructed and validated a disease and treatment specific questionnaire that can objectively assess HRQOL following RC and UD. A prospective longitudinal study of FACT-VCI is currently ongoing.
Authors: Maria A Cerruto; Carolina D'Elia; Salvatore Siracusano; Antonio B Porcaro; Giovanni Cacciamani; Davide De Marchi; Mauro Niero; Cristina Lonardi; Massimo Iafrate; Pierfrancesco Bassi; Emanuele Belgrano; Ciro Imbimbo; Marco Racioppi; Renato Talamini; Stefano Ciciliato; Laura Toffoli; Michele Rizzo; Francesco Visalli; Paolo Verze; Walter Artibani Journal: Curr Urol Date: 2017-05-30
Authors: Georg Bartsch; Siamak Daneshmand; Eila C Skinner; Sumeet Syan; Donald G Skinner; David F Penson Journal: World J Urol Date: 2013-12-07 Impact factor: 4.226
Authors: Nathan Perlis; Murray Krahn; Shabbir Alibhai; Antonio Finelli; Paul Ritvo; Karen E Bremner; Girish Kulkarni Journal: Qual Life Res Date: 2014-04-13 Impact factor: 4.147