Background: Performance status (PS) assessment is an integral part of the decision-making process in cancer care. Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) PS are the most widely used tools. In some studies, the absolute agreement rate of these tools between observers has been moderate to low. The present study aimed to evaluate the inter-observer reliability and construct validity of the new Functionality Assessment Flowchart (FAF) and compare it with ECOG PS and KPS in a sample of cancer patients. Methods: The patients were recruited by convenience from the waiting rooms of the Breast and Gynecology Ambulatory in a cross-sectional study. Two trained medical students (observer A) and five medical oncologists (observers B) independently rated women according to the ECOG PS, KPS and FAF. After the determining the PS scores, observer A administered the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Fatigue (FACT-F) questionnaire to the participants. The agreements between observers A and B were investigated using the absolute agreement rate (%), weighted and unweighted kappa and Spearman's correlation test. For construct validity, the PS scores were correlated with functional and fatigue scores by performing correlation analysis. Results: Eighty women with a median age of 57 years were included in the study (86 % accrual rate). Among these women, 39 (48.8 %) had advanced cancer. The overall absolute agreement rate between observers was 49.4 % for KPS, 67 % for ECOG PS, and 78.2 % for FAF. When using unweighted kappa values, the inter-observer reliability was "fair", "moderate" and "substantial" for KPS, ECOG PS and FAF, respectively. However, when using weighted kappa statistics, "substantial" agreement was observed for KPS and ECOG PS and "nearly perfect" agreement was observed for FAF. All of the PS scales correlated very well with the functional and fatigue scores. Conclusions: We present a new instrument with moderate to high inter-observer agreement and adequate construct validity to measure PS in cancer patients.

PurposeTo develop and validate a new multimedia instrument to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in Portuguese-speaking patients with cancer.MethodsA mixed-methods study conducted in a large Brazilian Cancer Hospital. The instrument was developed along the following sequential phases: identification of HRQOL issues through qualitative content analysis of individual interviews, evaluation of the most important items according to the patients, review of the literature, evaluation by an expert committee, and pretesting. In sequence, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted (pilot testing, n = 149) to reduce the number of items and to define domains and scores. The psychometric properties of the IQualiV-OG-21 were measured in a large multicentre Brazilian study (n = 323). A software containing multimedia resources were developed to facilitate self-administration of IQualiV-OG-21; its feasibility and patients’ preferences (“paper and pencil” vs. software) were further tested (n = 54).ResultsAn exploratory factor analysis reduced the 30-item instrument to 21 items. The IQualiV-OG-21 was divided into 6 domains: emotional, physical, existential, interpersonal relationships, functional and financial. The multicentre study confirmed that it was valid and reliable. The electronic multimedia instrument was easy to complete and acceptable to patients. Regarding preferences, 61.1 % of them preferred the electronic format in comparison with the paper and pencil format.ConclusionsThe IQualiV-OG-21 is a new valid and reliable multimedia HRQOL instrument that is well-understood, even by patients with low literacy skills, and can be answered quickly. It is a useful new tool that can be translated and tested in other cultures and languages.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-016-2675-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Cílem této studie bylo měřit hodnoty D-dimeru a zjistit jejich vztah k hluboké žilní trombóze (HŽT) a mortalitě pacientů s onemocněním COVID-19. Metoda: Z populace přibližně 1 200 pacientů, u nichž se provádělo vyšetření HŽT obou dolních končetin dopplerovským ultrazvukem, byl vytvořen vzorek sestávající ze 100 pacientů s HŽT a 100 jedinců bez HŽT. Kromě pohlaví a věku účastníků se stanovovaly hodnoty D-dimeru v následujících intervalech > 20 μg/ml, 10 až 20 μg/ml, 5 až 10 μg/ml, 3 až 5 μg/ml a < 3 μg/ml. Sledoval se vztah mezi kategorií hodnot D-dimeru a mortalitou. Výsledky: Průměrné hodnoty D-dimeru ve skupinách s/bez HŽT byly 11,90, resp. 4,97 μg/ml; tento rozdíl byl statisticky významný (p = 0,0001, párový t test). Mortalita byla vyšší než 35 % u pacientů bez HŽT a s hodnotami D-dimeru > 3 μg/ml. Ve skupině s HŽT byla mortalita vyšší než 55 % nezávisle na hodnotě D-dimeru. Závěr: Stanovení hodnot D-dimeru je naprosto zásadní při screeningu hluboké žilní trombózy u pacientů s onemocněním COVID-19, protože vyšší hodnoty D-dimeru jsou spojeny s vyšší mortalitou a přítomností hluboké žilní trombózy.