Purpose:
To evaluate a computerized self-reported, touch-screen version of the cancer-specific quality-of- life (cc-qol) questionnaire against the traditional paper-and-pencil version (the pc-qol) for equivalence, time for completion, user preference and ease of use.
Methods:
One hundred and five patients were recruited from a cancer center of a university hospital in south korea. a randomized crossover design was used, with patients randomly assigned into two groups. group a patients completed the cc-qol first while waiting to see a physician, and completed the pc-qol version of the questionnaire after seeing the physician. group b patients completed these questionnaires in the reverse order. subjects were asked about user preference and ease of use. time taken to complete both versions was measured.
Results:
Weighted kappa coefficients of items showed very good to moderate agreement. the time required to complete the cc-qol did not differ statistically from the pc-qol. the same proportion of patients preferred both versions. most patients (94.8%) reported that the cc-qol was "easy" or "very easy" to complete.
Conclusion:
The cc-qol is the computerized equivalent of the pc-qol, which is used to assess the health-related quality of life (hrqol) of cancer patients. the cc-qol can be helpful to oncology nurses and physicians for assessing, collecting, and evaluating their patients' hrqol scores in busy clinical practices. [asian nursing research 2009;3(1):41-48].