Spanish validation of the University of Washington Quality of Life questionnaire for head and neck cancer patients

Abstract

Objective The University of Washington Quality of Life (UW-QOL) questionnaire is one of the most widely used instruments to evaluate the quality of life of head and neck cancer patients. The aim of this study was to perform a Spanish translation and validation of the UW-QOL questionnaire. Study Design A cross-sectional study. Setting Three tertiary-care hospitals and a laryngectomee rehabilitation center. Subjects and Methods The translation and cultural adaptation of the questionnaire were performed following accepted international guidelines. The psychometric validation was performed on a consecutive series of patients treated for squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract with no signs of relapse, recruited from May 2007 to December 2008. Eligible subjects were invited to complete the Spanish version of the UW-QOL questionnaire during routine clinical consultation, and complete it again within 15 days. Subjects also completed a validated Spanish version of the Goldberg