Adaptation of Quality of Life Measure for Limb Lymphedema–Arm in Turkish Women With Breast Cancer–Related Lymphedema

Abstract

Quality-of-life measures are needed for clinicians and researchers to identify quality of women's life with breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL). To adapt Quality of Life Measure for Limb Lymphedema-Arm into Turkish (TR) and to test its validity and reliability. This is a methodological and cross-sectional study and was conducted in the lymphedema outpatient clinic of a university hospital. The study included 109 women with BCRL. After linguistic validity of the scale was achieved, confirmatory factor analyses and known group validity were used to test its construct validity. Reliability of the scale was tested with Cronbach's α, item-total correlations, and Spearman-Brown coefficient. After linguistic validity was achieved, opinions requested from 5 experts specializing in lymphedema showed that item and content validity indexes of the scale were 1. Fit indexes of confirmatory factor analysis were as follows: χ/df = 1.86, root mean square error of approximation = 0.089, standardized root mean square residual = 0.09, and comparative fit index = 0.81. Known group validity analysis showed a significant difference in the mean scores for the subscales of Quality of Life Measure for Limb Lymphedema-Arm-TR, symptom, function, and body image/appearance in terms of lymphedema stages (P < .05). The internal reliability coefficients for the subscales ranged from 0.78 and 0.86. The item-total correlation coefficients ranged between 0.36 and 0.73. Quality of Life Measure for Limb Lymphedema-Arm-TR was found to be valid and reliable in the TR population. It could be used in research to evaluate the quality of life in patients with BCRL. The scale can be used to evaluate effectiveness of nursing interventions directed toward patients developing breast cancer-related lymphedema in clinical settings and studies.