Assessing health-related quality of life of Chinese-American breast cancer survivors: a measurement validation study

Background: This study reports on the internal consistency and construct validity of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General (FACT-G v.4) and 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12 v.2) health-related quality of life (HRQOL) instruments with Chinese-American breast cancer survivors (BCS). Methods: Participants completed mailed questionnaires at baseline and 12-month follow-up. HRQOL was measured using the FACT-G and the SF-12. The measures were evaluated by construct validity and reliability tests. Factor analyses were performed in a two-wave assessment through exploratory and confirmatory analyses at baseline and follow-up. Results: Seventy-four Chinese-American BCS participated. Excellent internal consistency (alpha > 0.85) and good construct validity for the FACT-G (five factors) and the SF-12 (two factors) were observed. Factor structure of both measures accounted for 70% of the common variance in physical, social/family, emotional, and functional well-being subscales for the FACT-G and in physical and mental components for the SF-12. Conclusions: Our data demonstrated good internal consistency and construct validity of the measures. The psychometric findings demonstrate the utility of the FACT-G and the SF-12 to assess HRQOL among Chinese-American BCS. Copyright (C) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.