The international phase 4 validation study of the EORTC QLQ-SWB32: A stand-alone measure of spiritual well-being forￂ people receiving palliative care for cancer

• Published in: European journal of cancer care Vol. 26; no. 6
• Main Authors: Vivat, B, Young, TE, Winstanley, J, Arraras, JI, Black, K, Boyle, F, Bredart, A, Costantini, A, Guo, J, Irarrazaval, ME, Kobayashi, K, Kruizinga, R, Navarro, M, Omidvari, S, Rohde, GE, Serpentini, S, Spry, N, Van Laarhoven, HWM, Yang, GM
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Hindawi Limited 01-11-2017
• Subjects: Cancer; Correlation analysis; Existentialism; Palliation; Palliative care; Principal components analysis; Quality of life; Quantitative psychology; Religion; Religious groups; Social support; Spirituality; Validation studies; Well being
• ISSN: 0961-5423; 1365-2354
• DOI: 10.1111/ecc.12697

The EORTC Quality of Life Group has just completed the final phase (field-testing and validation) of an international project to develop a stand-alone measure of spiritual well-being (SWB) for palliative cancer patients. Participants (n = 451)--from 14 countries on four continents; 54% female; 188 Christian; 50 Muslim; 156 with no religion--completed a provisional 36-item measure of SWB plus the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL (PAL), then took part in a structured debriefing interview. All items showed good score distribution across response categories. We assessed scale structure using principal component analysis and Rasch analysis, and explored construct validity, and convergent/divergent validity with the PAL. Twenty-two items in four scoring scales (Relationship with Self, Relationships with Others, Relationship with Someone or Something Greater, and Existential) explained 53% of the variance. The measure also includes a global SWB item and nine other items. Scores on the PAL global quality-of-life item and Emotional Functioning scale weakly-moderately correlated with scores on the global SWB item and two of the four SWB scales. This new validated 32-item SWB measure addresses a distinct aspect of quality-of-life, and is now available for use in research and clinical practice, with a role as both a measurement and an intervention tool.