Measuring Patient-Reported Physical Functioning and Fatigue in MDS

A study identified a modular approach for measuring physical functioning and fatigue in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The findings were published in the Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes.

The researchers of this study sought to generate supportive quantitative evidence for modular physical functioning and fatigue measures using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 items (QLQ-C30) and a customized section of 10 items. The 40 items were completed online cross-sectionally by a total of 51 patients. The researchers conducted psychometric analyses based on Rasch measurement theory on the QLQ-C30 physical functioning and fatigue domains as well as measures combining QLQ-C30 and supplemental items.

According to the results, the QLQ-C30 physical functioning and fatigue domains demonstrated robust targeting to the sample and adequate reliability, with few conceptual gaps identified. Overall, combining the QLQ-C30 and supplemental physical functioning and fatigue items enhanced both the conceptual coverage and the reliability of the measures.

“The modular measurement approach of combining EORTC QLQ-C30 and Item Library offers a promising pragmatic solution to the measurement of physical functioning and fatigue, as well as anemia-related symptoms in clinical trials conducted in HR MDS, CMML, and AML,” the researchers concluded.