title: Development and validation of a quality of life instrument for patients with liver cancer QOL-LC.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a self-administered quality of life instrument for patients with liver cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The programmed decision procedure, the theory and methodology in developing rating scale were used to establish the instrument. On the basis of the data from 105 liver cancer patients, the psychometric properties of the scale were evaluated by indicators of validity, reliability coefficients, and statistical methods like structural equation modeling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The test-retest coefficients for physical, psychological, symptom/side effects, social domains, and the overall scale are 0.76, 0.86, 0.71, 0.80, and 0.84, respectively. The α coefficients for the above 4 domains are 0.78, 0.81, 0.75, and 0.68, respectively. The correlation analysis and the structural equation model showed good construct validity. The criterion-related was confirmed by using the functional living index-cancer simultaneously. The scale can reflect the changes of patients' quality of life after treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The instrument is of good validity, reliability, and responsiveness and has been broadly used in China.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Services, Kunming Medical University, China. wanchh@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Chonghua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Jiqian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Canzhen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jiahong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Qiong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002681:China; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires