Quality of life in breast cancer patients: Validation of a FACT-B Malayalam version

Background: Recent advances in diagnosis and treatment of cancer have led to an increase in cancer survival, and hence, there is a greater emphasis on quality beside quantity of survival. Developing countries too have begun to recognize the need for monitoring quality of life (QOL). However, in most of the developing countries, a validated and reliable tool for the purpose is yet to be realized. Material and method: The functional assessment of chronic illness therapy (FACIT) system is a collection of QOL questionnaires targeted to measure QOL in chronic illness. The functional assessment of cancer therapy for breast cancer (FACT-B) was translated into the local language (Malayalam) and tested for validity and reliability. Results: The tool thus developed showed substantial sensitivity, as does the source tool. The Cronbach's α for the total FACT-B was 0.87, which is similar to the α of 0.9 observed in the FACT-B English version. The mean FACT-B score was 94.3 compared to 112.8 for the source tool. Conclusion: The Malayalam translation of the FACT-B questionnaire was developed, tested and validated, and was found satisfactory in comparison to the source tool.