Validation of EQ-5D in patients treated for extremity sarcoma
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Validation of EQ-5D in patients treated for extremity sarcoma
IRAS ID
164051
Contact name
Kevin Dunn
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, days
Research summary
Background: Health-related quality of life (QoL) involves a broad set of measures that focus on physical, functional, social and emotional well-being of an individual. QoL is an important consideration in the management of patients with malignant musculoskeletal tumours, also called sarcomas, that that occur in a limb, shoulder or pelvis (i.e. in extremities). While surgical management of extremity sarcomas has improved significantly over the past few decades, the patients may suffer significant disability and reduced quality of life after their surgery. The follow-up after surgery typically involves questionnaires that have been developed for extremity sarcoma patients, but these tools can be lengthy and focus mostly on physical function.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test a QoL questionnaire called EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) in patients treated for extremity sarcoma at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (ROH). This questionnaire was chosen because it is short and easy to use, and because it has been widely tested and proven to be accurate in both healthy people and other patient groups. EQ-5D consists of five questions that concern mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. It also includes a visual analogue scale (like a thermometer) which asks the patient to score their health state on a scale of 0-100.
Methods: Two hundred patients with extremity sarcoma who have undergone surgery at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital will be invited to take part in a questionnaire survey. The survey will include EQ-5D, and two questionnaires that measure physical function specifically in patients treated for extremity sarcoma. The results from these questionnaires and information from medical records will be compared to assess the ability of the EQ-5D to measure the patients’ health.
Outcomes: If the EQ-5D can measure accurately the health of sarcoma patients, it will become part of clinical assessment at ROH which is one of the major centres for musculoskeletal cancer treatment in the UK. It may also be used in future studies to predict problems after surgery.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 1
REC reference
14/ES/1081
Date of REC Opinion
17 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion