Cross-discipline
Cross-discipline

Quality of Life

Description

EORTC research around Quality of Life aims to:

  • Develop and refine questionnaires to assess patients’ health-related quality of life in oncology clinical trials, other well-designed research studies and clinical practice
  • Collaborate with other EORTC research groups in implementing health-related quality of life studies within their clinical trial programs
  • Conduct research to better understand the effects of cancer and its treatment on the health-related quality of life of diverse populations of patients with cancer, across different cultures.

Professionals from various disciplines, including oncologists, radiotherapists, surgeons, psychiatrists, palliative care specialists, psychologists, social workers and research methodologists are involved in developing disease-specific treatment measurement modules to be administered in addition to the core quality of life questionnaire, the EORTC QLQ-C30. The modules, like the core questionnaire, are designed for use in cancer clinical trials, clinical practice and academic research.

For more information about Quality of Life, contact us.

Main Achievements

  • Published an update to our Module Development Guidelines, which have served as a vital reference tool since their first publication in 1993. The updated guidelines include: (i) alternative methods of identifying relevant quality of life issues, (ii) links to the newly developed EORTC QLG Item Library (iii) translation of modules, and (iv) changes to the methods used to develop validated modules.
  • Developed an EORTC questionnaire to assess sexual health in cancer patients, an important but often neglected aspect of quality of life.
  • Championed early career investigators to engage in quality of life research. In addition to offering two fellowships annually and awarding six visiting fellowships to other institutions in our Group network, we also provided grants to researchers to attend meetings. Several of our senior members mentor promising young researchers as well.
  • Agreed during a strategy meeting to engage an expert to enhance Group communication internally and externally, ensuring our messages are clearly expressed in plain language for our diverse members.
  • Led 2 trials in 2021, (EORTC-1617; EORTC-1514)

EORTC research in Quality of Life has led to the creation of the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire, which has become one of the standard tools to measure quality of life in cancer clinical trials. The core questionnaire, currently available in over 100 languages, is accompanied by more than 20 fully-validated modules, addressing disease or population-specific concerns.

Related Projects

SISAQOL : Setting International Standards in Analyzing Patient-Reported Outcomes and Quality of Life endpoints Data for Cancer Clinical Trials

Research Group

Group website
  • Chair

    Jaap Reijneveld

    Amsterdam UMC - locatie VUMC

    Amsterdam, Netherlands

  • Secretary

    Karin Kuljanic

    Klinicki Bolnicki Centar Rijeka

    Rijeka, Croatia

  • Treasurer

    Olga Husson

    The Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni Van Leeuwenhoekziekenhuis

    Amsterdam, Netherlands

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