Pilot Study and Preliminary Validation of the Arabic Translation of the EORTC INFO25 Questionnaire.

Objective There is a lack of data on the quality of information that cancer patients receive from their oncologists in Lebanon and Middle Eastern countries. In view of the social and psychological characteristics of our society, we assess the reliability and validity of the questionnaire elaborated by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) for the measurement of the quality of information provided to cancer patients. Methods The questionnaire was translated into Arabic according to the EORTC recommendations. We conducted this study on Lebanese patients above 18 years of age receiving chemotherapy for a malignant tumor at Hotel Dieu de France University Hospital. Convergent and discriminate validity was assessed by correlating each item respectively with its own scale and any other scale. The internal consistency of the Arabic version of the EORTC INFO 25 was assessed by calculating Cronbach alpha coefficient. Results We enrolled 30 patients (18 women and 12 men; mean age 55±16 years). The internal consistency of the EORTC QLQ-INFO25 was found valid in the Lebanese population. The internal consistency estimate of the full questionnaire showed a reliability of 0.715. The EORTC QLQ-INFO 25 was also assessed for reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of multi item scales and was validated for a Cronbach alpha value > 0.7: information about the disease ɑ=0.890; information about the medical tests ɑ=0.940; information about treatment ɑ=0.868; information about other services ɑ=0.786. Conclusion The validation of the EORTC questionnaire in the Lebanese population would allow us to use it in further studies especially with the introduction of palliative care in our medical system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]