Minimally important differences for interpreting European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of life Questionnaire core 30 scores in patients with ovarian cancer

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Jammbe Z. Musoro
  • Corneel Coens
  • Elfriede Greimel
  • Madeleine T. King
  • Mirjam A.G. Sprangers
  • Andy Nordin
  • Eleonora B.L. van Dorst
  • Grønvold, Mogens
  • Kim Cocks
  • Galina Velikova
  • Hans Henning Flechtner
  • Andrew Bottomley
  • on behalf of the EORTC Gynecological and Quality of Life Groups

Introduction: Minimal important differences (MIDs) are useful for interpreting changes or differences in health-related quality of life scores in terms of clinical importance. There are currently no MID guidelines for the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) specific to ovarian cancer. This study aims to estimate MIDs for interpreting group-level change of EORTC QLQ-C30 scores in ovarian cancer. Methods: Data were derived from four EORTC published trials. Clinical anchors for each EORTC QLQ-C30 scale were selected using correlation strength and clinical plausibility. MIDs for within-group change and between-group differences in change over time were estimated via mean change method and linear regression respectively. For each EORTC QLQ-C30 scale, MID estimates from multiple anchors were summarized via weighted-correlation. Distribution-based MIDs were also examined as supportive evidence. Results: Anchor-based MIDs were determined for deterioration in 7 of the 14 EORTC QLQ-C30 scales assessed, and in 11 scales for improvement. Anchor-based MIDs for within-group change ranged from 4 to 19 (improvement) and − 9 to −4 (deterioration). Between-group MIDs ranged from 3 to 13 (improvement) and − 11 to −4 (deterioration). Generally, absolute anchor-based MIDs for most scales ranged from 4 to 10 points. Conclusions: Our findings will aid interpretation of EORTC QLQ-C30 scores in ovarian cancer and inform sample size calculations in future ovarian cancer trials with endpoints that are based on EORTC QLQ-C30 scales.

Original languageEnglish
JournalGynecologic Oncology
Volume159
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)515-521
Number of pages7
ISSN0090-8258
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • EORTC QLQ-C30, Health-related quality of life (HRQOL), Minimally important difference (MID), Ovarian cancer

ID: 251935683