The CARES-SF used for prospective assessment of health-related quality of life after stem cell transplantation.

Objective: By employing the Cancer Rehabilitation and Evaluation System short form (CARES-SF) prospectively we wanted to focus on the rehabilitation needs after high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and stem cell transplantation, in order to identify problems that should be addressed by health-care professionals during the course of disease and treatment.

Methods: The CARES-SF was administered before and at 2, 6 and 12 months post-transplant to 130 cancer patients treated with HDC and allogeneic (SCT) or autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Physical function scale scores were compared with the corresponding scale of the EORTC QLQ-C30.