Patients' quality of life: Validation of the functional assessment of cancer therapy-bone marrow transplant (FACT-BMT) instrument for the Mexican population.

Objective: The functional assessment of cancer therapy-bone marrow transplant (FACT-BMT) is a widely used instrument to assess quality of life (QOL) in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients, but there is little evidence of its validity in Latin American populations. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Spanish language version of the FACT-BMT in Mexican patients.

Method: First, the original version was piloted with 15 HSCT patients to obtain an adequate cultural version, resulting in the adaptation of one item. After that, the new version was completed by 139 HSCT patients.

Results: The results showed a FACT factor structure that explains 70.84% of the total variance, a factor structure similar to the original FACT structure, and with a high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.867). For the BMT subscale, the best factor structure included 17 items which explain 61.65% of the total variance with an adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.696).

Significance Of The Results: The FACT-BMT was found to be a valid and reliable instrument to evaluate QOL in Mexican patients. Our results constitute new FACT-BMT empirical evidence that supports its clinical and research uses.