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The EORTC Quality of Life Study Group has developed a questionnaire for evaluating Quality of Life in international clinical trials: QLQ-C30. The purpose of the present work is to validate the third version of this questionnaire (3.0) for use in Spain. Two hundred and one head and neck cancer patients completed the QLQ-C30 at one or two time points during the treatment and follow-up periods, and a subsample completed the questionnaire on three occasions. Psychometric evaluation of the structure, reliability and validity of the questionnaire was undertaken. The data support the structure and the reliability of the scales. Validity was confirmed in three ways: the interscale correlations are statistically significant and moderate, several scales and items discriminate among groups of patients with different scores on the clinical variables, and some scales reflect significant changes during treatment and the follow-up period. The EORTC QLQ-C30 (version 3.0) is a reliable and valid questionnaire when applied to a sample of Spanish head and neck cancer patients. These results are in line with previous studies. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study compares patients with cancer and other diseases, focusing on the ways pain is managed through coping style, locus of control, the perceived effectiveness of these strategies, level of distress, and pain-related behaviours. Fifty-one cancer patients with pain and 67 chronic pain patients without cancer completed questionnaires to assess these variables. We compared the responses of cancer and non-cancer patients and also studied relations between coping style and level of distress, and evaluated whether the clinical variables, coping style and locus of control scores could predict level of distress. Significant differences between the samples emerged on clinical, psychological and pain behaviour variables. The no cancer group scored significantly higher on internal locus of control. Greater avoidance predicts higher anxiety, whilst lower internal locus of control, greater avoidance and lower perceived handicap predict higher depression. A passive patient role is therefore associated with poorer adaptation than a more active role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to identify factors associated significantly with hospitalised cancer patients' satisfaction with care. Patients were recruited from four geographical/cultural groups, including five European countries and Taiwan. They rated their level of satisfaction by completing the EORTC IN-PATSAT32 questionnaire at home. Additionally, data were collected on the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and the quality of life of the patients, as well as on institutional characteristics. Of 762 patients recruited, 647 (85%) returned a completed questionnaire. The number of nurses and doctors per bed, institution size, geo-cultural origin, ward setting, teaching/non-teaching setting, treatment toxicity, global health status, participation in clinical trials and education level were all associated significantly at the multivariate level with satisfaction with doctor and nurse interpersonal skills, information provision, availability, and/or overall satisfaction. A number of patient-, institutional- and culture-related factors are associated with the perceived quality of cancer care. Future studies, with appropriate sampling frames and stratification procedures, are needed to better understand cross-national and cross-cultural differences in cancer patient satisfaction.