A Critical Review of Instruments Measuring the Quality of Life of Cancer Patients in Iranian Studies and Their Psychometrics Properties

OBJECTIVE: Over the past three decades, more than 100 instruments have been developed that measure the quality of life. In order to ensure accuracy and authenticity of the measurements, it is essential to utilize the instruments that have proper psychometric properties. Therefore, this critical review study aimed at comparing the instruments that measured the life quality of cancer patients in Iranian studies. METHODS: In this study, Persian articles published in Iranian databases (IranMedex, Irandoc Magiran, SID) from 2006 to 2016 were searched, using the following keywords: nursing, cancer, tools, scale, and quality of life. A total number of 159 articles were obtained, of which 33 articles complied with the inclusion criteria of this study and thereby were reviewed. RESULTS: Sixty nine percent of the articles explored the life quality of adult females with breast cancer, and the most-commonly used instrument was a quality-of-Life instrument for use in international clinical trials in oncology belonging to the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer. More than half of the studies referred solely to Iranian studies to address psychometric properties. Though, no method was introduced in order to address the validity and reliability of instruments in the articles under consideration. CONCLUSION: According to the findings, the studies which explored the validity and reliability of instruments concerning the life quality of cancer patients were scarce. Therefore, the researchers should pay further attention to the validity and reliability of instruments for selection of an appropriate instrument in this area of research. Also, the researchers are encouraged to further study the psychometric properties of relevant instruments so that optimal generalizability and authenticity of their findings can be attained.