Health-related quality of life

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) measure aspects of a patient's health status that come directly from the patient, including health-related quality of life (HRQoL). HRQoL instruments provide a means of assessing treatment benefit and can be important tools in clinical research and practice.77 HRQoL is becoming an increasingly important assessment tool in multiple myeloma, given the improved survival outcomes from recent treatment advances. There are multiple well-validated instruments available which can be used in clinical trials to facilitate comparisons between treatments.75,77

Select HRQoL instruments

Instrument75,78,79 Use Domains/Categories Measurement
EORTC-QLQ-C30 Cancer Patients Global health status/QoL Functional domains: physical, role, emotional, cognitive and social
Symptom domains: fatigue, nausea, pain
4-point Likert scale (not at all, a little, quite a bit, very much)80
EORTC-QLQ-MY20*(MY24) MM-specific tool used with QLQ-C30 Disease symptoms, side effects of treatment, body image and future perspectives 4-point Likert scale (not at all, a little, quite a bit, very much)80,81
EORTC-QLQ-CIPN20 Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy Sensory, motor and autonomic subscales 4-point Likert scale (not at all, a little, quite a bit, very much)82
FACT-MM MM-specific tool Physical, social, emotional and functional well-being and additional concerns 5-point Likert scale (not at all, a little bit, somewhat, quite a bit, very much)83
EuroQoL-5D General HRQoL questionnaire Mobility, self care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression 3L: Levels 1-3 (no problem, some problems, extreme problems) 5L: Levels 1-5 (no problem, slight problems, moderate problems, severe problems, extreme problems)84

*Validated for MM and widely used.

 
Instrument75,78,79 EORTC-QLQ-C30
Use Cancer patients
Domains/Categories Global health status/QoL Functional domains: physical, role, emotional, cognitive and social
Symptom domains: fatigue, nausea, pain
Measurement 4-point Likert scale (not at all, a little, quite a bit, very much)80
 
Instrument75,78,79 EORTC-QLQ-MY20* (MY24)
Use MM-specific tool used with QLQ-C30
Domains/Categories Disease symptoms, side effects of treatment, body image and future perspectives
Measurement 4-point Likert scale (not at all, a little, quite a bit, very much)80,81
 
Instrument75,78,79 EORTC-QLQ-CIPN20
Use Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
Domains/Categories Sensory, motor and autonomic subscales
Measurement 4-point Likert scale (not at all, a little, quite a bit, very much)82
 
Instrument75,78,79 FACT-MM
Use MM-specific tool
Domains/Categories Physical, social, emotional and functional well-being and additional concerns
Measurement 5-point Likert scale (not at all, a little, somewhat, quite a bit, very much)83
 
Instrument75,78,79 EuroQoL-5D
Use General HRQoL questionnaire
Domains/Categories Mobility, self care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression
Measurement 3L: Levels 1-3 (no problem, some problems, extreme problems) 5L: Levels 1-5 (no problem, slight problems, moderate problems, severe problems, extreme problems)84

*Validated for MM and widely used.

CIPN, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy; EORTC, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer; FACT, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy; MM, multiple myeloma; QLQ, quality of life questionnaire.

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