The EORTC quality of life questionnaire-head and neck 35 in Italian laryngectomized patients

The aim of this study was to test the validity and reliability of the European organization for research and treatment of cancer (EORTC) quality of life questionnaire (QLQ)-head and neck (H&N) 35 in Italian laryngeal cancer patients. The original questionnaire was developed by the EORTC quality of life (QoL) study group and tested in H&N cancer patients from Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The Italian translation of the questionnaire used in this study was made by a team of the CRO, National Cancer Institute, using a double-back translation method between independent translators. The translated EORTC QLQ-H&N35 was given to 99 patients with H&N cancer who had undergone total laryngectomy 1-26 years before and had been then treated with radiotherapy and, in some cases, chemotherapy. The questionnaire was re-administrated to 33 patients after 1 month to test its stability over time. It was structurally made up of seven scales (pain, swallowing, sense, speech, social eating, social contact, and sexuality) and 11 single items that considered the most important clinical aspects characterizing the QoL in H&N cancer patients. The statistical analysis of the indexes of validity and reliability confirmed the results obtained with other linguistic versions of the questionnaire. Our Italian version of the EORTC QLQ-H&N35 proved to be a statistically valid instrument to assess QoL in laryngectomized patients.