| The purpose of this pilot study was the development and initial evaluation of the Breast Cancer Quality of Life Scale (BC-QOL), which measures how quality of life is impacted by having breast cancer. Test development included an initial stage of interviews of women with breast cancer as a basis for concept and item development. A total of 273 items were created to comprise the subscales of. Family of Origin, Friends, Work Performance/Relationships, Single/Not Currently Dating, Currently Dating, Primary Committed Relationship, Children, Medical Care, Financial Well-being, Thoughts/Feelings about Life (Prioritizing, and Life in General), Thoughts/Feelings about Health/Illness, Thoughts/Feelings about Death, Philosophical/Spiritual/Religious Beliefs (Change in Beliefs, and Magnitude of Spiritual Beliefs), Psychological Well-being (Self Esteem/Self Concept, Concept of Others, Body Image, Psychological Feelings, Psychology and Health), Physical Well-being (Treatment Side Effects and General Physical Well-being), and Sexual Well-being. Item response ratings utilized 4 formats: -2 (Very Negative Impact) to +2 (Very Positive Impact), -2 (Strongly Decreased) to +2 (Strongly Increased), -2 (Strongly Disagree) to +2 (Strongly Agree), and 1 (Not at All Important) to 5 (Extremely Important).;Item analyses were conducted using a sample of 43 women with either primary or recurrent/metastatic breast cancer who ranged in age from 35 to 75 years. Variances and item-total correlations were evaluated in four item-analyses iterations to reduce the total item pool to 138. This resulted in acceptable coefficient alphas (.73--.95) for the following scales: Family of Origin, Friends, Work Performance/Relationships, Primary Committed Relationship, Children, Medical Care, Financial Well-being, Prioritizing, Life in General, Thoughts/Feelings about Health/Illness, Thoughts/Feelings about Death, Change in Beliefs, Self Esteem/Self Concept, Concept of Others, Body Image, Psychological Feelings, General Physical Well-being, and Sexual Well-being.;Scale scores correlated significantly with separate global ratings, yielding preliminary indications of validity and suggesting the possibility of the use of global ratings for a brief version of the BC-QOL. Potential weaknesses of this study included the use of a small convenience sample, potential positive response bias, the use of a potentially biasing cover letter, and insufficient sample sizes for several subscales. Recommendations regarding these issues and further development were discussed. |
