OBJECTIVE: The University of Washington Quality of Life

(UW-QOL) questionnaire is one of the most widely used instruments

to evaluate the quality of life of head and neck cancer

patients. The aim of this study was to perform a Spanish translation

and validation of the UW-QOL questionnaire.

STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study.

SETTING: Three tertiary-care hospitals and a laryngectomee

rehabilitation center.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The translation and cultural

adaptation of the questionnaire were performed following accepted

international guidelines. The psychometric validation

was performed on a consecutive series of patients treated for

squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract with

no signs of relapse, recruited from May 2013 to December

  1. Eligible subjects were invited to complete the Spanish

version of the UW-QOL questionnaire during routine clinical

consultation, and complete it again within 15 days. Subjects

also completed a validated Spanish version of the Goldberg

Mental Health Survey and were evaluated by the use of the

Karnofsky Index.

RESULTS: A Spanish version of the questionnaire was developed

in iterative fashion. In the psychometric validation process, a

total of 76 patients were analyzed. Reliability was excellent, including

both internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.84) and

test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient between

0.91 and 0.97 with a confidence interval of 95%). Construct validity

was supported by statistically significant relationships between

theKarnofsky Index, the Goldberg Mental Health Survey,

and the translated UW-QOL questionnaire.

CONCLUSION: The Spanish version of the UW-QOL questionnaire

appears to be culturally appropriate and psychometrically valid.