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Original ArticleOpen Access
Quality of Life, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G)
Ratanatharathom V 
,
Sirilerttrakul S ,
Jirajarus M ,
Silpakit C ,
Maneechavakajom J ,
Sailamai P ,
Sirisinha T
,
Sirilerttrakul S ,
Jirajarus M ,
Silpakit C ,
Maneechavakajom J ,
Sailamai P ,
Sirisinha T Research on quality of life (QOL) in Thailand is still in its developing stages and requires
cross-culturally valid QOL questionnaires to appropriately assess QOL as an endpoint in research
and clinical trials. The English-language version of the FACT-G (Version 4) questionnaire was
translated into Thai using an iterative forward-backward translation process. To detennine if this
instrument could cross a broad cultural divide and
be
used in Thailand, the reliability and validity
of its Thai version was studied. The translated questionnaire was administered to 364 cancer
patients. In evaluating its psychometric properties, internal consistency by Cronbach' s alpha and
test
I
retest reliability measured by Spearman rank-correlation coefficients were used. Cronbach's
alpha coefficient ranged from 0.75 to 0.90. Spearman rank-correlation coefficient value for global
QOL was 0.80. Validity was checked using two methods: factor analysis and known-groups com-
parison. Known-groups comparison analysis showed discrimination between subgroups of patients
differing in clinical status as defined by disease stage (stage 1/ll
vs
stage 111/lV, p
<
0.001), treat-
ment status (active treatment
vs
no treatment, p
<
0.05), and financial burden (yes
vs
no, p
<
0.001). In conclusion, the finding of this study indicate that the Thai versfon of the Functional
Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) is a reliable and valid measure of quality of life
in cancer patients and can
be
used in clinical trials and studies of outcomes research in oncology.
Key word : Quality of Life, Validation, Psychometric, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-
General, Translation Methodology, Thai Version
cross-culturally valid QOL questionnaires to appropriately assess QOL as an endpoint in research
and clinical trials. The English-language version of the FACT-G (Version 4) questionnaire was
translated into Thai using an iterative forward-backward translation process. To detennine if this
instrument could cross a broad cultural divide and
be
used in Thailand, the reliability and validity
of its Thai version was studied. The translated questionnaire was administered to 364 cancer
patients. In evaluating its psychometric properties, internal consistency by Cronbach' s alpha and
test
I
retest reliability measured by Spearman rank-correlation coefficients were used. Cronbach's
alpha coefficient ranged from 0.75 to 0.90. Spearman rank-correlation coefficient value for global
QOL was 0.80. Validity was checked using two methods: factor analysis and known-groups com-
parison. Known-groups comparison analysis showed discrimination between subgroups of patients
differing in clinical status as defined by disease stage (stage 1/ll
vs
stage 111/lV, p
<
0.001), treat-
ment status (active treatment
vs
no treatment, p
<
0.05), and financial burden (yes
vs
no, p
<
0.001). In conclusion, the finding of this study indicate that the Thai versfon of the Functional
Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) is a reliable and valid measure of quality of life
in cancer patients and can
be
used in clinical trials and studies of outcomes research in oncology.
Key word : Quality of Life, Validation, Psychometric, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-
General, Translation Methodology, Thai Version
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