Measuring Quality of Life of Long-Term Breast Cancer Survivors: The Long Term Quality of Life–Breast Cancer (LTQOL-BC) Scale

Abstract

The authors developed a quality-of-life measure specific to long-term breast cancer survivors. Participants were women diagnosed with early-stage disease ≥7 years postdiagnosis. The final scale is the result of an iterative interview process with the 28-item scale administered to 285 participants. Factor analysis demonstrated with seven domains: physical, sexual and cognitive function, body image, coping, social support, and anxiety. Cronbach's alpha is .88. Convergent and divergent validity are also reported. The Long Term Quality of Life–Breast Cancer Scale has domains specific to breast cancer and will be useful to psychosocial and clinical researchers.

KEYWORDS:

• breast cancer
• oncology
• quality of life
• long-term survivors

This research supported by Public Service contracts CA-78517 National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.