Questionnaires

A questionnaire is an instrument designed to assess some of the different aspects that define the quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients or survivors.

The EORTC QLG Core Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) is a 30-item instrument designed to measure quality of life in all cancer patients.

In addition to the EORTC QLQ-C30, two core questionnaires derived from the EORTC QLQ-C30 are available:

• the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL, a shortened version of the EORTC QLQ-C30 meant for palliative cancer care patients;
• and the EORTC QLQ-F17, a shorter, 17-item version that includes only the functional scales and the Global Health Status / Quality of Life scale of the EORTC QLQ-C30.

The core questionnaires form the basis of the modular approach to QOL assessment adopted by the EORTC QLG and complemented by a range of available modules.

The overall aim of a module is to improve the sensitivity and specificity of assessments of QOL in specific groups of patients. This allows the patient’s experience to be assessed in a more precise way so that both differences between groups and changes over time can be captured.

Modules differ in their content. They may relate, for example, to QOL issues affecting particular tumour types (e.g. primary site, metastatic site), aspects of care (e.g. patient satisfaction) or patients’ psychological needs or experiences (e.g. information). Modules have been developed for defined patient groups (e.g. elderly), specific symptoms (e.g. fatigue, cachexia), treatment side-effects (e.g. radiation proctitis), or other areas of relevance and importance to specific groups (e.g. activities of daily living in people with brain tumours). In principle, most modules are developed to be used at diagnosis and then during treatment and follow-up. Modules are sometimes developed as ‘stand-alone questionnaires’ (for example, to assess patient satisfaction).

In cases where symptoms or issues (e.g., associated with novel treatments) are not covered by the core and module questionnaires, or when more flexibility is needed, customised item lists can be created using the EORTC QLG Item Library. This approach implemented by the EORTC QLG allows for ‘static + flexible’ PRO measurement in cancer patients.

More information on the EORTC Item Library available here.

As of “phase III completed” modules may be used in research and clinical trials under certain conditions which are detailed on the QLG website.

Although they have been carefully developed and tested for acceptability with patients, they have not undergone psychometric testing in a large international group of patients. Therefore, the suggested subscales for those modules are hypothetical and may change after psychometric analysis.

In principle, the module developers should have the right to publish their data first. Please see our Module Development Guidelines here for more details.

Terms and conditions of use modules under development can be found here.