Multilingual translation of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) quality of life measurement system

Abstract

There is need for multilingual cross-culturally valid quality of life (QOL) instrumentation to assess the QOL endpoint in international oncology clinical trials. We therefore initiated a multilingual translation of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) Quality of Life Measurement System (Version 3) into the following languages: Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian and Swedish. Prior to this project, the FACT Measurement System was available in English, Spanish and Canadian French. The FACT is a self-report instrument which measures multidimensional QOL. The FACT (Version 3) evaluation system uses a 29-49 item compilation of a generic core (29 Likert-type items) and numerous subscales (9-20 items each) which reflect symptoms associated with different diseases, symptom complexes and treatments. The FACT-G (general version) and eight of 18 available cancer-related subscales were translated using an iterative forward-backward translation sequence. After subsequent review by 21 bilingual health professionals, all near final language versions underwent pretesting with a total of 95 patients in the native countries. Available results indicate good overall comprehensibility among native language-speakers. Equivalent foreign language versions of the FACT will permit QOL evaluation of people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Evaluation of quality of life after laparoscopic surgery: evidence-based guidelines of the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery

“…A manual is available [16] and the scales have been translated and adapted for use in different countries and cultures [11]. For information about using the measurement system, see www.facit.org.…”

Quality of life and understanding of disease status among cancer patients of different ethnic origin

“…A smaller study of the psychological adjustment of cancer patients with high performance status undergoing radiotherapy in Belgium and Turkey showed that Belgian patients experienced less psychological distress than Turkish patients before starting radiotherapy (Erbil et al, 1996). These findings are unlikely to be due only to translation of the questionnaires since rigorous methods have been used to develop QoL instruments in different languages (Aaronson et al, 1992;Ware et al, 1995Ware et al, , 1998Bonomi et al, 1996). The differences may be related to socioeconomic status, education, access to health care, language, knowledge, attitude toward doctors, treatment, patient behaviour and other confounding factors (Adler et al, 1994;National Coalition of Hispanic Health and Human Services Organizations, 1995).…”

“…The FACT-G has been translated into 43 different languages using an established and rigorous translation methodology (Bonomi et al, 1996). The FACT-G is a 27-item compilation of general questions divided into four domains or subscales (Physical Well-being, Social-Family Well-being, Emotional Well-being and Functional Well-being).…”

“…The translation of questionnaires developed in one culture into the language of another can be problematic because of difficulties in achieving equivalent conceptual dimensions (Cella et al, 1993;Hays et al, 1993;Sartorius and Kuyken, 1994;The WHOQOL Group, 1994;Yabroff et al, 1996;Ware et al, 1998). Despite these problems, several QoL questionnaires, including the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy -General (FACT-G) instrument used in the present study, have been translated into many languages and validated for different ethnic groups (Aaronson et al, 1992;Bonomi et al, 1996).…”

Having a sibling as donor: Patients' experiences immediately before allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

“…A higher score indicates better QoL (McQuellon et al, 1997;Peterman et al, 2002). Validated Swedish translations of the ques-tionnaires (Bonomi et al, 1996) were acquired from FACIT for use in the present study.…”