Oncology section EDGE task force on prostate cancer: A systematic review of outcome measures for health-related quality of life

Abstract

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is multidimensional and subjective, encompassing occupational and physical function, psychological state, social interaction, and somatic sensation. Because of the wide scope of HRQOL and its implications for the medical management of prostate cancer survivors, clinicians and researchers need to know the most reliable and valid measures currently available for addressing this clinical construct in men diagnosed with prostate cancer. Purpose: To identify and evaluate patient-reported outcome measures used to assess HRQOL in men diagnosed with prostate cancer and make recommendations for the use of these patient-reported outcome measures in both the research and clinic settings. Methods: The literature was systematically reviewed for patient-reported outcome measures used in peer-reviewed, published research to assess HRQOL in men diagnosed with prostate cancer. The goals were to examine the psychometric properties of commonly used HRQOL measures in order to determine their clinical utility. Results: The following patient-reported outcome measures are highly recommended by the Task Force to assess HRQOL in men diagnosed with prostate cancer: EORTC QLQ-P25 (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Prostate 25), EPIC (Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite), FACT-P (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Prostate), UCLA-PCI (UCLA-Prostate Cancer Index), EORTC QLQ-C30 (EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire-Cancer 30), FACT-G (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General), and SF (Short-Form) 36, 12, and 8. Conclusions: A variety of patient-reported outcome measures have been reported in the literature to assess HRQOL in men diagnosed with prostate cancer. Seven measures were found to have satisfactory psychometric properties, as well as good clinical utility, and are recommended for use by the researchers on this Task Force.