Development and evaluation of oral Cancer quality-of-life questionnaire (QOL-OC)

BACKGROUND: In this study scales and items for the Oral Cancer Quality-of-life Questionnaire (QOL-OC) were designed and the instrument was evaluated. METHODS: The QOL-OC was developed and modified using the international definition of quality of life (QOL) promulgated by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and analysis of the precedent measuring instruments. The contents of each item were determined in the context of the specific characteristics of oral cancer. Two hundred thirteen oral cancer patients were asked to complete both the EORTC core quality of life questionnaire (EORTC QLC-C30) and the QOL-OC. Data collected was used to conduct factor analysis, test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity. RESULTS: Questionnaire compliance was relatively high. Fourteen of the 213 subjects accepted the same tests after 24 to 48 h demonstrating a high test-retest reliability for all five scales. Overall internal consistency surpasses 0.8. The outcome of the factor analysis coincides substantially with our theoretical conception. Each item shows a higher correlation coefficient within its own scale than the others which indicates high construct validity. CONCLUSIONS: QOL-OC demonstrates fairly good statistical reliability, validity, and feasibility. However, further tests and modification are needed to ensure its applicability to the quality-of-life assessment of Chinese oral cancer patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-4378-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.