Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cervix Questionnaire in Brazil

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough cervical cancer is ​​the second most common tumor among Brazilian women, studies that evaluate the quality of life of these women are still scarce. This situation is explained by the lack of specific and validated tools for this purpose in Portuguese (Brazil). The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the FACT-CX (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cervix) questionnaire in a population of Brazilian women with cervical cancer.MethodsThe psychometric properties of the FACT-CX questionnaire were tested in a sample of 100 women diagnosed with cervical cancer who were previously treated in the Barretos Cancer Hospital. We analyzed the internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient - ICC), confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity (correlation with the SF-36 questionnaire), and discriminant validity by disease stage and two questions related to self-perception of health was also performed.ResultsThe scales had Cronbach´s alpha coefficients ranging from 0.61 to 0.80. However, three scales did not have a statistically significant coefficient greater than 0.70. The ICC ranged from 0.68 to 0.82 and all considered satisfactory. Factor analysis did not generate consistent components. The FACT-G and FACT-CX total scores had good internal consistency and reproducibility, and also correlated well with the General Health and Vitality scales of the SF-36. However, only two FACT-CX scales had a significant correlation with SF-36. Discriminant analysis showed that FACT-CX failed to discriminate groups according to clinical stage but was able to divide the women according to the self-perception of health.ConclusionFATC-CX total score had good internal consistency, reproducibility and discriminant validity. In addition, it correlated well with General Health and Vitality scales of SF-36. However, three scales had questionable internal consistency and only two had significant correlation with SF-36.

Validation of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy with Cervical Cancer Subscale (FACT-CX) for Quality of Life in Thai Patients Prior to Chemoradiotherapy

“…Nowadays, there are 2 common specific measurements for quality of life in cervical cancer: Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy with Cervical Cancer Subscale (FACT-CX) and the Cervical Cancer Module (QLQ-CX24) from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life. FACT-CX is a cervical cancer specific quality of life questionnaire that has been be validated in English, Chinese and Portuguese (Ding et al 2012;Fregnani et al 2013). FACT-CX uses 42 items.…”

“…However, the variance included only the variables of the PWB, SWB, FWB and EWB. Another study, by Fregnani et al, (2013) not report the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin sampling adequacy or Bartlett's test of sphericity. The suitability of samples for performing EFA is unknown.…”

Methodological study to evaluate the psychometric properties of FACIT-CD in a sample of Brazilian women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

“…This result may have occurred because the SF-12 is a generic questionnaire that does not specifically address the questions explored in the FACIT-CD; therefore, the purposes of the evaluations were distinct. Another study that used a generic and a specific questionnaire reported the same problem when correlating the questionnaires [ 33 ]. This analysis was also conducted using the EORTC QLQ-CX24 questionnaire, which was developed to assess the HRQoL of women with cervical cancer and could easily calculate the scores of the scales and some items separately.…”

Identificação de Conceitos da Classificação Internacional de Funcionalidade, Incapacidade e Saúde em Medidas de Qualidade de Vida para o Câncer do Colo do Útero

“…Baseados nos achados da etapa 1, a revisão sistemática de Tax et al 27 questionário utilizado em todo o mundo para avaliação da qualidade de vida de mulheres com câncer do colo do útero e apresenta boas propriedades psicométricas na população brasileira, possuindo capacidade discriminatória para diferenciar mulheres de acordo com a sua percepção de saúde 29 . O EORTC QLQ-CX24 é composto por 24 questões que avaliam a qualidade de vida de mulheres em tratamento para o câncer do colo do útero a partir da funcionalidade e de alguns sintomas específicos 30 .…”