European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire–Head and Neck Module, updated version: Preliminary psychometric data from Serbian laryngectomized patients

Background We provided preliminary psychometric data for the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire–Head and Neck Module, updated version (QLQ‐H&N43) from a group of Serbian laryngectomized patients. Methods The study included 170 subjects. The QLQ‐H&N43 is a 43‐item questionnaire, with 12 multi‐item scales and 7 single‐item symptom scales. All subjects also completed the Quality of Life Questionnaire‐Core 30‐questions (QLQ‐C30). Results Good internal consistency (Cronbach's α of above 0.7) was found for 5 of the 7 scales. All QLQ‐H&N43 scales correlated negatively as predicted with all QLQ‐C30 functioning scales. The correlations with the QLQ‐C30 symptoms supported discriminant validity, with only one exception: the head and neck social eating scale overlapped with the QLQ‐C30 pain scale. For 14 of 19 QLQ‐H&N43 scale scores, significant known‐group differences were observed between those who differ in type of laryngectomy, adjuvant therapy, or 5‐year survival. Conclusion Preliminary evidence suggests that a great majority of the QLQ‐H&N43 scales have acceptable internal consistency and promising construct validity, but more research studies are needed with other cancer groups to extend these findings. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38 : E916–E924, 2016