Gender Neutral
Type Standalone
Testing Phase validated
Principal investigator(s)
Juan Ignacio Arraras
Principal Investigator
Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra Oncology Departments
Pamplona, Spain

Project summary

The EORTC communication module – EORTC QLQ-COMU26 – is intended to assess communication between patients and professionals. This questionnaire is replied by patients

The EORTC QLQ-COMU26 questionnaire is applicable across patients with any tumour site and in any disease and treatment stage (diagnosis, treatment or follow-up), including palliative care.

This questionnaire assesses communication with different groups of professionals: doctor(s), nurse(s), RT technician(s) and other(s). Patients are asked to indicate the specific treatment period they were evaluating: diagnosis, treatment or follow-up.

The EORTC QLQ-COMU26 includes 26 items, which mainly assess behaviors related to communication, and is organized into six scales and 4 individual items.

The six scales evaluate: patient’s active role-behaviors, aspects of the clinician-patient relationship, professional’s qualities for creating a relationship, professional’s skills, professional’s management of patient’s emotions and professional’s skills related to delivering information.

The four individual items are on: professionals taking into account patient’s preferences on how the information should be offered, correcting misunderstandings in information when necessary, privacy, and satisfaction with the communication.

The communication questionnaire is intended to be administered as a stand-alone measure. Depending on the aims of the researchers, it could also be administered in combination with the EORTC Quality of Life core questionnaire (QLQ-C30).

Achievements

The EORTC communication module – QLQ-COMU26 – has been developed. Phases I to III of the development process have been performed. Patients and professionals from different cultural areas have participated in the three first phases of the questionnaire development.

The communication module is currently being tested in an international field study: Phase IV of the development process.

Patients from different cultural areas are included.

Future plans

To carry out psychometric analyses of the questionnaire in 2023
Besides cross-cultural differences and the role of other variables (like treatment aim) in communication are planned to be studied.

For patients

The EORTC communication module – EORTC QLQ-COMU26 – is intended to assess communication between patients and professionals.

This questionnaire is replied by patients

The EORTC QLQ-COMU26 questionnaire is applicable across patients with any tumour site and in any disease (initial or advanced) and treatment stage (diagnosis, treatment or follow-up), including palliative care.

This questionnaire assesses patients’ communication with different groups of professionals: doctor(s), nurse(s), RT technician(s) and other(s).

The communication questionnaire is intended to be administered as a stand-alone measure

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