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ss=""h3"">ABSTRACT
ss=""h4"">Objective
Develop and validate a health-related quality-of-life (mea
sure for patient
s with acute and chronic leukemia.
ss=""h4"">Methods
The study consisted of two phases: scale construction and scale validation. For the item-generation phase, a summary of the literature combined with qualitative results from item-generation interviews with 29 acute or chronic leukemia patients and 16 health care providers yielded an initial item pool reflecting leukemia-specific concerns and symptoms. Items underwent iterations of review and reduction according to defined retention criteria to support content validity, as defined by priority concerns of patients. Seventeen final leukemia-specific items were combined with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General to create the FACT-Leukemia (FACT-Leu) scale. For the validation phase, 79 individuals with acute or chronic leukemia completed questionnaires at three time points.
ss=""h4"">Results
All FACT-Leu subscale and aggregated scores showed high internal consistency (¦Ás ranging from 0.75 to 0.96). Test-retest reliability was adequate for all subscales (intraclass correlation range 0.765-0.890). The FACT-Leu scale demonstrated good convergent validity, with significant correlations with quality-of-life criteria and performance status, in the expected direction. FACT-Leu subscale scores were significantly different among the three performance status change groups, suggesting good responsiveness to change.
ss=""h4"">Conclusions
The FACT-Leu scale is a valid, reliable, and efficient measure of leukemia-specific health-related quality of life for acute and chronic disease.
