Validity and reliability of the MSKCC Bowel Function instrument in a sample of Italian rectal cancer patients

Abstract

AimsThe purpose of this study was to translate the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC) Bowel Function Instrument into Italian and to test its psychometric validity and reliability in a sample of Italian rectal cancer patients. MethodsThe MSKCC questionnaire was translated into Italian using a standard procedure of double-back translation. Construct validity was tested using a factor analysis and internal reliability was estimated using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Concurrent validity was determined by correlations with European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CR38 quality of life scales. A non-parametric analysis of variance was used to establish the discriminant validity of the questionnaire. Test-retest reliability was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient. Results124 rectal cancer patients participated in the validation study. The number of missing items was 2.2%. The factorial structure was found to be quite similar to the original one and the internal reliability was 0.7 for urgency, 0.6 for frequency, and 0.7 for dietary subscale.The test-retest reliability was acceptable with one exception: the dietary subscale showed a low reproducibility (ICC=0.4). All three subscales showed a significant correlation with the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CR38 domains and were able to discriminate several groups of clinical relevance. ConclusionsThe Italian version of the MSKCC Bowel Function Instrument shows acceptable psychometric properties and can be considered a valuable and specific instrument to assess bowel functions in rectal cancer patients, both for research purposes and in clinical practice.

Systematic review recommends the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer colorectal cancer–specific module for measuring quality of life in colorectal cancer patients

“…[23,27,33,34,55,59e61], QLICP-GM [67], QLICP-CR [62], and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) Bowel Function [40,41]). Quick-FLIC [63] was the only instrument that was rated as strong positive by the criteria.…”

“…All ratings given to the nine instruments that were assessed on this property (version 3 of QLQ-C30 [27,29,30,65,66], QLQ-SWB36 [53], QLQ-CR38 [21e27], QLQ-CR29 [31,54], FACT-C [23,27,33,34,55,59e61], MSAS-SF [56], CMSAS [56], SRQS [57], and MSKCC Bowel Function [40,41]) were unknown as inadequate information was provided by these studies.…”

“…Thirty-two instruments were assessed on this property, but only nine were rated as limited to moderate positive (QLQ-CR38 [21e27], version 2 [32] and version 3 [29] of FACT-G, mCOH-QOL-Ostomy [37e39], SRQS [57], MSKCC Bowel Function [40,41], Coping with CRC [58], HLQ [51], and QLACS [44]). The rest of them were rated as unknown, and one item (Quality-Quantity Questionnaire [43]) was rated as limited negative.…”

“…Thirty-two instruments were rated on this property with 11 rated as strong positive (version 1 of QLQ-C30 [28,64], version 3 of QLQ-C30 [5,27,30,65,66], QLQ-CR38 [21e27], QLQ-LMC21 [46,50], version 4 of FACT-G [23,27,69], FACT-C [23,27,33,34,55,59e61], FCSI-9 [35], FACIT-F [68], QLICP-CR [62], MSKCC Bowel Function [40,41], and EQ-5D [72]). …”

“…Twelve instruments were assessed on this property, and 10 of them (QLQ-CR38 [21e27], QLQ-LMC21 [46,50], QLQ-SWB36 [53], version 2 of FACT-G [32], FACT-C [23,27,33,34,55,59e61], QLICP-GM [67], mCOH-QOLOstomy [37e39], MSKCC Bowel Function [40,41], Coping with CRC [58], and QLACS [44]) were rated as strong positive. Two instruments (CRQ [42] and QLICP-CR [62]) were rated as unknown.…”