Validation of the Arabic version of the EORTC quality of life questionnaire among cancer patients in Lebanon

The objective of this article was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the translated Lebanese Arabic version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 in a sample of adult cancer patients in Lebanon.

The EORTC QLQ-C30 was translated into Lebanese Arabic and administered to a convenient sample of 200 adult patients diagnosed with cancer at a tertiary care center in Lebanon between 2009 and 2010. The psychometric indices assessed were reliability, multitrait scaling analysis, construct validity, and confirmatory factor analysis.

Six out of nine subscales had Cronbach’s alpha coefficients above 0.70. Multitrait scaling analysis showed that all item-scale correlation coefficients met the set standards of convergent validity with the exception of item 5 only (95.8 %). In addition, 79.7 % of the item-scale correlation coefficients met the criterion for discriminant validity. In inter-scale correlations, all conceptually related scales had correlation coefficients of ≥0.40 with the exception of role functioning and fatigue scales having an undesirable correlation coefficient of −0.76. In known-groups comparison, the instrument differentiated significantly between some of the subscales with respect to education, employment, and age. CFA showed an almost good fit (GFI = 0.87) with respect to our current data set.

The translated Lebanese Arabic version of the EORTC QLQ-C30 is a reliable and valid instrument that can be used to assess the quality of life of Lebanese cancer patients.