BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders (Nov 2022)

Translation and validation of the Dutch Spine Oncology Study Group Outcomes Questionnaire (SOSGOQ2.0) to evaluate health-related quality of life in patients with symptomatic spinal metastases

  • Roxanne Gal,
  • Joanne M van der Velden,
  • Daimy C Bach,
  • Jorrit-Jan Verlaan,
  • Ruth E Geuze,
  • Joost PHJ Rutges,
  • Helena M Verkooijen,
  • Anne L Versteeg

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-022-05837-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Background The primary goal of palliative treatment of spinal metastases is to maintain or improve health-related quality of life (HRQOL). We translated and validated a Dutch version of The Spine Oncology Study Group Outcome Questionnaire (SOSGOQ2.0), a valid and reliable 20-item questionnaire to evaluate HRQOL in patients with spinal metastases. Methods After cross-cultural translation and adaptation, the questionnaire was pre-tested in fifteen patients referred for spine surgery and/or radiotherapy. This resulted in a final questionnaire that was sent to patients for assessment of internal consistency, construct (i.e., convergent and divergent) validity, discriminative power and test-retest reliability. Results Overall, 147 patients (mean age 65.6 years, SD = 10.4) completed the questionnaire after a median time of 45.4 months (IQR = 18.9–72.9) after spine surgery and/or radiotherapy. Internal consistency was good for the Physical function, Pain, and Mental health domains (α = 0.87, 0.86, 0.72), but not for Social function (α = 0.04). Good convergent validity was demonstrated except for Social function (rs = 0.37 95%CI = 0.21–0.51). Discriminative power between patients with ECOG performance scores of 0–1 and 2–4 was found on all domains and Neurological function items. Test-retest reliability was acceptable for Physical function, Pain and Mental health (ICC = 0.89 95%CI = 0.81–0.94, ICC = 0.88 95%CI = 0.78–0.93, ICC = 0.68 95%CI = 0.48–0.81), whereas ICC = 0.45 (95%CI = 0.17–0.66) for Social function was below threshold. After removing item 20 from the Social function domain, internal consistency improved, and convergent validity and test-retest reliability were good. Conclusion The Dutch version of the SOSGOQ2.0 questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool to measure HRQOL in patients with spinal metastases. Item 20 was removed to retain psychometric properties.

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