Assessing agreement between self-report and proxy-report of quality of life for breast cancer patients in Iran

Porpuse: Since quality of life (QoL) is a subjective construct, self-reported QoL is the main source of its assessment, but in some situations the patient cannot evaluate his own status. The objective of this study was to determine how the caregivers or physicians can be considered as an alternative for this assessment among Iranian breast cancer patients. Methods : In this cross-sectional study which was conducted from June to December 2014, 148 patients with breast cancer who had referred to the Medical oncology clinic of the Cancer Institute of Iran, five oncologists and 148 caregivers were selected through sequential sampling methods. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) was completed by these three groups and the results were compared. Results: The patient-caregiver Intra-class Correlation Coefficients (ICC) on all 15 QLQ.C30 domains were moderate to good (ICC=0.41 to 0.76). Agreement between QoL scores of patients and those of oncologists were moderate to good except in four domains that agreement was poor. Of all comparisons made, 55% and 45% were in exact agreement in patient-caregiver and patient- physician, respectively. Conclusion: The findings indicate that caregivers as proxy respondents can be useful sources of information about breast cancer patients’ QoL. Besides, physicians as other alternatives can be considered for the evaluation of QoL, though the interpretation of the results should be conducted with caution especially in cognitive and role functional domains.

کلیدواژه ها:

Breast Cancer ، Iran ، Proxy ، Quality of Life