title: Assessment of the RSCL quality of life instrument during chemotherapy in an Italian setting.
abstract: Evaluation of the quality of life of oncological patients is now perceived as a major element of cancer treatment, and various instruments for measuring it have been proposed. However, whatever instrument is used must be capable of reflecting the different ways in which different contexts and cultures respond to cancer. We administered the Italian version of the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL) to 60 patients with advanced disease attending five oncological centres in Romagna (central Italy). The RSCL was found to be able to measure both psychological and physical well-being and to detect a difference between patients on low/medium and those on high-burden chemotherapy. The Italian version of the RSCL is an adequate scale that is capable of capturing patient perceptions and could be used for monitoring the quality of life of Italian patients participating in clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Civil Hospital, Rimini, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ravaioli
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Buda
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fava
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paci
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tononi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Riva
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zanotti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Drudi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires