Validation of the flemish CARES, a quality of life and needs assessment tool for cancer care.

Background: The Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System (CARES) is a quality of life (QOL) and needs assessment instrument of US origin that was developed in the 90's. Since November 2012 the copyright and user fee were abolished and the instrument became publicly available the present study aims to reinvestigate the psychometric properties of the CARES for the Flemish population in Belgium.

Methods: The CARES was translated into Flemish following a translation-back translation process. A sample of 192 cancer patients completed the CARES, concurrent measures, and questions on socio-demographic and medical data. Participants were asked to complete the CARES a second time 1 week later, followed by some questions on their experiences with the instrument. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, content validity, construct validity, concurrent validity and feasibility of the CARES were subsequently assessed.

Results: The Flemish CARES version demonstrated excellent reliability with high internal consistency (range .87-.96) and test-retest ratings (range .70-.91) for all summary scales. Factor analysis replicated the original factor solution of five higher order factors with factor loadings of .325-.851. Correlations with other instruments ranging from |.43|-|.75| confirmed concurrent validity. Feasibility was indicated by the low number of missing items (mean 2.3; SD 5.0) and positive feedback of participants on the instrument.

Conclusions: The Flemish CARES has strong psychometric properties and can as such be a valid tool to assess cancer patients' QOL and needs in research, for example in international comparisons. The positive feedback of participants on the CARES support the usefulness of this tool for systematic assessment of cancer patients' well-being and care needs in clinical practice.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02282696 (July 16, 2014).