AUTHOR=Kayali Vatansever Ayşe , Yavuzşen Tuğba , Karadibak Didem 

TITLE=The Reliability and Validity of Quality of Life Questionnaire Upper Limb Lymphedema (ULL-27) Turkish Patient With Breast Cancer Related Lymphedema

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2020.00455

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2020.00455

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=Purpose: As well as the world,  breast cancer is the most common cancer among women inTurkey. Lymphedema, which negatively affects the quality of life is one of the most prevalent problems reported by breast cancer survivors. Upper Limb Lymphedama 27 (ULL-27) questionaire is a valid and reliable tool assessing the quality of life in patients with breast cancer-related lymphedema. Until now, a Turkish-language version was lacking. The aim of this study was to perform a cross-cultural validation and reliability of the Turkish version of the ULL-27 questionnaire.
Methods: This cross-sectional study involved Forward- backward translation, and cross-cultural adaptation. 81 women (mean age and body mass index 54.96 ± 11.35 years and 29.50 ± 5.74 kg/m2) who had breast cancer related-upper extremity lymphedema were evaluated using the ULL-27 Qality of life quastionnaire-Turkish version. Assessment of limb size was quantified by using circumferential limb measurements.  European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 30-item Quality of Life Questionnaire and Quality of Life Questionnaire breast cancer-23 (QLQ-BR23) were analyzed by Pearson's correlation analysis with the ULL-27 Turkish Version to indicate the convergent validity. Cronbach's alpha (internal consistency) and exploratory factor analysis were used to assess the questionnaire's reliability.
Results:  The mean of lymphedema duration and severity were 23.12 ± 30.88 months. Mild lymphedema in 42% (34 people) of the cases included in the study; It was observed that 33.3% (27 people) had moderate lymphedema and 24.7% (20 people) had severe lymphedema. The alpha coefficient (internal consistency) for  the Turkish ULL-27 total score was high (alpha=0.93). Content validity was good because alll questions were understandeable for all participants (Subgroups of the scale of physical, psychological, social scores, alpha coefficient 0.90,0.87 and 0.75, respectively ). External construct validity was highly confirmed by expected correlations with comparator scales, EORTC-30 and QLQ-BR23 (p<0.01).
Conclusions: The Turkish version of the ULL-27 Quastionaire is a valid and reliable tool for evaluating QoL in women with upper limb lymphedema related with breast cancer.