文摘
Objective This study aimed to test the reliability, psychometric, and clinical validity of the use of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy—Brain (FACT-Br) in patients with brain metastases. Methods Patients with brain metastases were interviewed using the FACT-Br (including the FACT-general) 1?week prior to treatment. All patients completed a follow-up assessment 1?month post-treatment. Patients with a good performance status and receiving stereotactic radiosurgery completed an additional 1?week follow-up assessment after the initial baseline interview to assess test–retest reliability. Results Forty patients had complete 1?month follow-up data. Ten of these patients also completed the 1?week follow-up assessment from baseline. The median Karnofsky performance status of patients was 80 and the median age was 64?years. All subscales of the FACT-Br were found to be conceptually related (except for two correlations) using the following subscales: physical well-being (PWB), social/family well-being (SWB), emotional well-being (EWB), functional well-being (FWB), FACT-G total score, brain cancer subscale (BrC), and the FACT-Br total score. All FACT-Br scores demonstrated excellent reliability, except for the SWB scale which revealed good reliability. The FACT-Br scores showed no significant change in the quality of life (QoL) of patients from baseline to 1?month follow-up. Conclusion The use of the combined FACT-G and FACT-Br Subscale to assess QoL specifically in patients with brain metastases has successfully undergone psychometric validation. Future clinical trials should use the FACT-G and FACT-Br Subscale to assess QoL in this patient population.