Abstract
Cancer and palliative-care services measure quality of life (QOL) with multidimensional scales (e.g. EORTC QLQ C30 [ 1 Aaronson N.K. Ahmedzai S. Bergman B. for The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Study Group et al. The EORTC QLQ-C30: a quality of life instrument for use in international clinical trials in oncology. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1993; 85: 365-376 Crossref PubMed Scopus (10466) Google Scholar ]) or uni-dimensional scales, such as verbal or numerical rating scales. Multidimensional scales provide more insights, but are often confined to research contexts because of their complexity. Uni-dimensional scales are more commonly used in routine clinical practice, and probably provide as good information, especially in advanced cancer populations [ 2 Donnelly S. Walsh D. Quality of life assessment in advanced cancer. Palliat Med. 1996; 10: 275-283 Crossref PubMed Scopus (45) Google Scholar ]. Numerical rating scales in particular are often used to assess patients' symptoms [ 3 Costello P. Wiseman J. Douglas I. Batten B. Bennett M. Assessing hospice inpatients with pain using numerical rating scales. Palliat Med. 2001; 15: 257-258 Crossref PubMed Scopus (10) Google Scholar ]. Verbal ratings of pain have been shown to be quantifiable on a visual analogue scale [ 4 Collins S.L. Moore R.A. McQuay H.J. The visual analogue pain intensity scale: what is moderate pain in millimetres?. Pain. 1997; 72: 95-97 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1146) Google Scholar ]. We wanted to know how to interpret a verbal rating of QOL by cancer patients on a numerical rating scale.
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