Construct validity of the EORTC quality of life questionnaire information module

• Published in: Quality of life research 2013-02, Vol.22 (1), p.123-129
• Main Authors: Singer, Susanne, Engelberg, Philipp M., Weißflog, Gregor, Kuhnt, Susanne, Ernst, Jochen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Breast cancer; Cancer therapies; Communicable disease control; Construct validity; Cronbach's alpha; Discriminant analysis; Disease models; Factor analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Genital Neoplasms, Female - psychology; Genital Neoplasms, Female - therapy; Germany; Humans; Information; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Modeling; Oncology; Patient Satisfaction; Psychometrics; Psychometrics - instrumentation; Public Health; Quality of Life; Quality of Life Research; Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results; Socioeconomic Factors; Sociology; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; Urologic Neoplasms - psychology; Urologic Neoplasms - therapy; Validation studies; Validity; Variables; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0962-9343; 1573-2649
• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-012-0114-x

Purpose Providing sufficient information about diagnosis and treatment is an important feature of high-quality patient care in oncology. To measure patient satisfaction with information received, the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Group has recently developed a new tool, the information module (INFO25). The aim of this study was to evaluate the scale structure of the INFO25. Methods A total of n = 423 patients completed the INFO25 after finishing cancer therapy. The internal consistency of multi-item subscales was calculated using Cronbach's Alpha. The scale structure was evaluated using multi-trait methods and confirmatory factor analysis. Results Cronbach's Alpha of the multi-item scales ranged from 0.79 to 0.88. Only two items correlated somewhat higher with another scale than with their own, indicating a good scale structure. Construct validity with latent variable models, including a general information factor and four multi-item scales, resulted in the following fit indices CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.08, TLI = 0.99 and WRMR = 1.03. Conclusion The suggested construct of the INFO25 with a total score (general factor) in addition to the subscales is valid.