Key references:
Avis, N. E., Smith, K. W., McGraw, S., Smith, R. G., Petronis, V. M., & Carver, C. S. (2005). Assessing quality of life in adult cancer survivors (QLACS). Quality of Life Research, 14, 1007-1023.
Primary use / Purpose:
Background:
Many measures of quality of life (QOL) have been developed for assessment of cancer patients. Most of these measures, however, were developed for use during the period of treatment following diagnosis. Because of increasing interest in the experiences of long-term cancer survivors, authors have developed a measure specifically for use with persons who are 5 or more years past their cancer diagnosis. The development of the Quality of Life in Adult Cancer Survivors (QLACS) began with in-depth interviews with 59 long-term survivors, followed by generation of an item pool that was further reduced to final scales by administration to another sample of 242 survivors. Five cancer-specific domains were identified (appearance concerns, financial problems, distress over recurrence, family-related distress, and benefits of cancer) along with 7 generic QOL domains (negative feelings, positive feelings, cognitive problems, sexual problems, physical pain, fatigue, and social avoidance). Each has a separate subscale.
Psychometrics:
Cronbach’s alpha was .72 or greater for each domain. Correlations between domain scores and criterion measures were .72 or higher in all but one generic domain (social avoidance), but somewhat lower on cancer-specific domains. The new multidimensional measure has good internal consistency and validity and is appropriate for comparisons between cancer and non-cancer populations, as well as long-term follow-up of cancer patients.
