Validation of the flemish CARES, a quality of life and needs assessment tool for cancer care.

Bojoura Schouten,Elke Van Hoof,Paul Bulens,Patrick Vankrunkelsven,Jeroen Mebis,Johan Hellings,Frank Buntinx,Ward Schrooten,Dominique Vandijck

doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2728-9

Abstract

BackgroundThe Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System (CARES) is a quality of life (QOL) and needs assessment instrument of US origin that was developed in the 90’s. Since November 2012 the copyright and user fee were abolished and the instrument became publicly available the present study aims to reinvestigate the psychometric properties of the CARES for the Flemish population in Belgium.MethodsThe CARES was translated into Flemish following a translation-back translation process. A sample of 192 cancer patients completed the CARES, concurrent measures, and questions on socio-demographic and medical data. Participants were asked to complete the CARES a second time 1 week later, followed by some questions on their experiences with the instrument. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, content validity, construct validity, concurrent validity and feasibility of the CARES were subsequently assessed.ResultsThe Flemish CARES version demonstrated excellent reliability with high internal consistency (range .87–.96) and test-retest ratings (range .70–.91) for all summary scales. Factor analysis replicated the original factor solution of five higher order factors with factor loadings of .325–.851. Correlations with other instruments ranging from |.43|–|.75| confirmed concurrent validity. Feasibility was indicated by the low number of missing items (mean 2.3; SD 5.0) and positive feedback of participants on the instrument.ConclusionsThe Flemish CARES has strong psychometric properties and can as such be a valid tool to assess cancer patients’ QOL and needs in research, for example in international comparisons. The positive feedback of participants on the CARES support the usefulness of this tool for systematic assessment of cancer patients’ well-being and care needs in clinical practice.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02282696 (July 16, 2014).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2728-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

The Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System (CARES) is a quality of life (QOL) and needs assessment instrument of US origin that was developed in the 90’s
After exclusion of participants due to incorrect recruitment according to the age (n = 4) and language-criterion (n = 1), a large number of uncompleted questions (n = 2), a missing first questionnaire (n = 2), anonymous returned questionnaire (n = 1) or return outside the time interval of data inclusion (n = 11); data of 176 eligible patients (54 % of the invited patients) was available for analysis
This study explored the validity of the Flemish CARES version, resulting in a positive evaluation of the instrument

Summary

Introduction

The Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System (CARES) is a quality of life (QOL) and needs assessment instrument of US origin that was developed in the 90’s. Together with the rise of more successful therapeutic approaches and the increased life expectancy, the psychological and social aspects of care receive more attention as part of a holistic view of health care. Health is moving towards a more patientcentered approach. This is a process evolution as patient-centered care is an important dimension of quality of care [2]. Individualized, more integrated care plans and clinical care pathways are developed to improve outcomes for cancer patients, with an increasing emphasis on quality of life (QOL) [3]

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