The Queensland cancer risk study: General population norms for the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G)

Objective: To derive Australian normative scores for the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General Population (FACT-GP) and to confirm its factor structure. Methods: Quality of life (QoL) data (as measured by the FACT-GP) were collected within the Queensland Cancer Risk Study (QCRS) in 2004. The QCRS explored cancer screening and cancer risk behaviours among 9419 English-speaking residents of Queensland aged 20-75 years. Information was collected through computer-assisted telephone interviews and augmented by mailed, Self-Administered Questionnaires (SAQ). A total of 2727 participants largely comparable to the general population of Queensland self-completed the FACT-GP; however, participants were somewhat higher educated, more likely to have had cancer and less likely to be of indigenous heritage. Results: The Queensland population reported a FACT-GP summary score of 85.9 (SD = 15.1), with subscale scores (range: 19.2 for social well-being to 25.1 for physical well-being (PWB)). In this study, men and women within different age groups reported similar QoL. QoL was clinically and significantly lower among participants not married, with a body mass index (BMI) deviating from normal weight and with one or more self-reported morbidities. A four-factor solution was confirmed with good goodness-of-fit indices (RSMEA<0.05 for all three age groups). Conclusions: The reference values from the general population reported here can be used for comparison with the QoL measured in populations of cancer patients, providing a benchmark against which clinicians can evaluate the impact of the disease and/or the treatments on QoL.