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Background: The EORTC QLQ-STO22 (QLQ-STO22) is a firmly established and validated measure of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for people with gastric cancer (GC), developed over two decades ago. Since then there have been dramatic changes in treatment options for GC. Also, East Asian patients were not involved in the development of QLQ-STO22, where GC is most prevalent and the QLQ-STO22 is widely used. A review with appropriate updating of the measure was planned. This study aims to capture HRQoL issues associated with new treatments and the perspectives of patients and health care professionals (HCPs) from different cultural backgrounds, including East Asia. Methods: A systematic literature review and open-ended interviews were preformed to identify potential new HRQoL issues relating to GC. This was followed by structured interviews where HCPs and patients reviewed the QLQ-STO22 alongside new issues regarding relevance, importance, and acceptability. Results: The review of 267 publications and interviews with 104 patients and 18 HCPs (48 and 9 from East Asia, respectively) generated a list of 58 new issues. Three of these relating to eating small amounts, flatulence, and neuropathy were recommended for inclusion in an updated version of the QLQ-STO22 and covered by five additional questions. Conclusions: This study supports the content validity of the QLQ-STO22, suggesting its continued relevance to patients with GC, including those from East Asia. The updated version with additional questions and linguistic changes will enhance its specificity, but further testing is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ‐C30) assesses the health‐related quality of life of patients in cancer trials. There are currently no minimally important difference (MID) guidelines for the EORTC QLQ‐C30 for colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aims to estimate MIDs for the EORTC QLQ‐C30 scales in patients with advanced CRC treated with chemotherapy and enrolled in clinical trials. Method: The data were obtained from three published EORTC trials that treated CRC patients using chemotherapy. Potential anchors were selected from clinical variables based on their correlation with EORTC QLQ‐C30 scales. Anchor‐based MIDs for within‐group change and between‐group change were estimated via the mean change method and linear regression, respectively, and summarized using weighted correlation. Distribution‐based MIDs were also examined. Results: Anchor‐based MIDs were determined for deterioration in 8 of the 14 EORTC QLQ‐C30 scales and in 9 scales for improvement, and varied by scale, direction of change and anchor. MIDs for improvement (deterioration) ranged from 6 to 18 (−11 to −5) points for within‐group change and 5 to 15 (−10 to −4) for between‐group change. Summarized MIDs (in absolute values) per scale mostly ranged from 5 to 10 points. Conclusions: These findings have clinical relevance for the interpretation of treatment efficacy and the design of clinical trials by informing sample size requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between a measure of positivity in illness, the Silver Lining Questionnaire (SLQ), and measures of personality and spirituality/religious beliefs as a way of determining whether positivity in illness is a delusion or existential growth. Method: This is a cross-sectional study comparing response to the SLQ, to the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R), breathlessness, illness type, and spiritual and religious beliefs in a final total sample of 194 respiratory outpatients. Results: The SLQ was associated positively with extraversion (r = .16, p < .05), unrelated to neuroticism (r = .11, n.s.) and repression (r = .10, n.s.) and was positively associated with spiritual and religious beliefs, F(2, 187) = 7.12, p < 001, as predicted by the existential growth but not the delusion interpretation. There was no relationship between positivity and age, r(194)= .09, n.s., or between positivity and gender t(192) = -1.27, n.s., and nor were there relationships with type of illness, F(4, 188) = 2.17, n.s., or breathlessness, F(5, 173) = 0.42, n.s. Conclusions: The results suggest that positivity in illness is associated with existential growth, though the cross-sectional nature of the study precludes a conclusion of causal direction. The non-significant correlation between the SLQ and neuroticism is in the opposite direction predicted by the delusion explanation, but the non-significant relationship between the SLQ and repression is in the predicted direction. We cannot rule out the possibility that some positivity is delusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]