title: Psychometric analysis of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) scale in a rural sample.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Quality of life for persons with cancer has been studied extensively in urban populations. The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) scale was developed for use in clinical trials. The authors tested the psychometric properties of the FACT-G scale in a sample of rural cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic replication of the 1993 study by Cella et al., in which FACT-G was developed, was employed to assess the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The reliability and validity of the FACT-G scale for evaluating rural cancer patients was determined to be sufficient for research purposes. The factor structure was the same as that reported by Cella et al.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The FACT-G scale is appropriate for use in studies of the quality of life of rural cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Winstead-Fry
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schultz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008281:Maine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012424:Rural Population; D014707:Vermont