Measuring Quality of Life in Thai Women with Breast Cancer

Breast cancer has become a commonly diagnosed disease among Thai women in the last decade, despite the fact that Thai women generally have a lower rates than their Western counterparts. With the rising incidence and survival rates, it is crucial for nurses to look at the long term quality of life of these patients. A broad range of instruments have been used in clinical trials among breast cancer patients in oncology, like the EORTC questionnaire including the general quality of life questions (QLQ-C30) and the breast cancer module (QLQ-BR23), and the FACT-B questionnaire consisting of both a generic part (FACT-G) and a breast cancer specific module. They have been shown to have good validity and reliability properties both for the English original and translations into various languages including Thai. A few studies on quality of life in Thai context exist, covering quality of life in women with breast cancer. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to find which standard measure of common Western quality of life scales is appropriate to assess quality of life in Thai women with breast cancer. Results revealed the Thai version of EORTC QLQ-C30 and FACT-G questionnaires to be reliable and valid to assess quality of life in general. The best fit for measuring quality of life in Thai women with breast cancer during adjuvant treatment should be the EORTC QLQ-C30/-BR23.