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. 2018 Jan 10;18(1):66.
doi: 10.1186/s12885-017-3966-1.

The quality of working life questionnaire for cancer survivors (QWLQ-CS): factorial structure, internal consistency, construct validity and reproducibility

Merel de Jong  1 , Sietske J Tamminga  1 , Robert J J van Es  2 , Monique H W Frings-Dresen  1 , Angela G E M de Boer  3
Affiliations

The quality of working life questionnaire for cancer survivors (QWLQ-CS): factorial structure, internal consistency, construct validity and reproducibility

Merel de Jong et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: To assess the factorial structure, internal consistency, construct validity and reproducibility of the Quality of Working Life Questionnaire for Cancer Survivors (QWLQ-CS).

Methods: An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed on QWLQ-CS data from a sample of employed cancer survivors to establish the final number of items and factorial structure of the QWLQ-CS. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. In a second sample of (self-)employed cancer survivors, construct validity was tested by convergent validity (correlations of QWLQ-CS with construct-related questionnaires), and discriminative validity (difference in QWLQ-CS scores between cancer survivors and employed people without cancer). In a subgroup of stable cancer survivors subtracted from the second sample, reproducibility was evaluated by Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and Standard Error of Measurement (SEM).

Results: EFA on QWLQ-CS data of 302 cancer survivors resulted in 23 items and five factors. The internal consistency of the QWLQ-CS was Cronbach's α = 0.91. Convergent validity on data of 130 cancer survivors resulted in r = 0.61-0.70. QWLQ-CS scores of these cancer survivors statistically differed (p = 0.04) from employed people without cancer (N = 45). Reproducibility of QWLQ-CS data from 87 cancer survivors demonstrated an ICC of 0.84 and a SEM of 9.59.

Conclusions: The five-factor QWLQ-CS with 23 items and adequate internal consistency, construct validity, and reproducibility at group level can be used in clinical and occupational healthcare, and research settings.

Keywords: Cancer survivors; Psychometric properties; Quality of working life; Questionnaire; Return to work; Work continuation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Medical Ethics Committee of the Academic Medical Center (AMC) deemed ethical approval to be unnecessary (W14_323#14.17.0387). Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Bland and Altman plot for QWLQ-CS of the stable subgroup of cancer survivors (N = 87)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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