title: The Barretos short instrument for assessment of quality of life (BSIqol): development and preliminary validation in a cohort of cancer patients undergoing antineoplastic treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To be clinically useful, an instrument assessing health-related quality of life (HRQOL) should be easy to understand and quick to answer. Few instruments have been designed to be short, simple, and easily understandable by patients from all educational levels. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a brief general instrument developed to assess HRQOL.
  
  
  METHODS
  Results from a preliminary study regarding the initial development of the Barretos Short Instrument for Assessment of Quality of Life (BSIqol) with 80 cancer patients are presented. Out of all the patients, 59 completed the BSIqol on two occasions in order to evaluate the reproducibility test-retest. Validity analyses were done comparing scores from BSIqol with EORTC QLQ-C30 and Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS). In addition, BSIqol scores were analyzed in function of ECOG-PS, work activity, and financial income.
  
  
  RESULTS
  BSIqol demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.79) and adequate test-retest reliability, with intraclass coefficient correlation (ICC) varying from 0.736 to 0.946. There were adequate correlations between scores of BSIqol, EORTC QLQ-C30 and ESAS. The BSIqol was capable of discriminating between clinical subgroups, with different ECOG-PS and work activity. Patients completed the BSIqol in a median time <2 min. Only one patient reported some difficulty to answer the instrument.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BSIqol seems to be a straightforward and useful instrument for rapidly assessing HRQOL from cancer patients. Further studies are necessary to evaluate BSIqol in different populations and also to assess its responsiveness and define its minimal clinically important differences.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Oncologia Clínica, Hospital de Câncer de Barretos, Rua Antenor Duarte Vilela, 1331, Bairro Dr Paulo Prata, CEP: 14784-400, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil. caredupai@gmail.com
authors.forename: Carlos Eduardo
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Paiva
authors.forename: Fernanda Capella
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Rugno
authors.forename: Bianca Sakamoto Ribeiro
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Paiva
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001938:Brazil; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D016522:Oncology Service, Hospital; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents