Development of the Greek version of the University of Washington Quality of Life questionnaire for patients with head and neck cancer

The University of Washington Quality of Life (UW-QOL) questionnaire, created in 1993 to evaluate health related quality of life, has been widely used in English-speaking populations and translated and validated in other languages. The aim of the present study was to carefully translate and psychometrically validate the UW-QOL questionnaire in Greek. The revised version of the questionnaire was obtained by forward and backward translation of the original English version, according to internationally accepted guidelines. Validation was performed in 120 patients with head and neck cancer treated in a Greek Anticancer Institute in Athens, during their follow-up visits. Eligible patients completed the Greek version of the questionnaire and two other previously validated quality of life questionnaires (EORTC QLQ H&N35 and C-30). Related data and the patients' demographics were extracted from the patient's notes. Strong internal consistency (mean Cronbach α value of 0.83) was shown, with good construct validity. Statistically significant differences were noted between tumour staging and treatment modality and global quality of life. Strong correlation was shown between previously validated EORTC questionnaires and the translated UW-QOL questionnaire. In conclusion, the Greek version of the UW-QOL questionnaire appears to be culturally appropriate and psychometrically valid.