Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Head and Neck Cancer Inventory

Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Head and Neck Cancer Inventory

The primary treatment option of many patients with head and neck cancer is surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In the literature, functional problems that occur after surgical interventions applied to head and neck cancer patients are frequently mentioned. Morbidities resulting from the combined application of radiotherapy and chemotherapy are based on more anecdotal information and critical data on long-term functional outcomes in this patient group are scarce. The aim of this study is to make the validity, reliability and cultural adaptation of the Head and Neck Cancer Inventory in Turkish.

In the literature, there are general cancer scales developed to evaluate the quality of life of head and neck cancer patients and sub scales associated with head and neck cancers developed in addition to these scales. In addition, scales specific to head and neck cancers have also been developed. However, previous research shows that even general health status scales or cancer-specific scales cannot determine outcomes related to many head and neck cancer patients. In addition, items containing multiple functions and patients' attitudes (behaviors) cannot be analyzed separately in any of the scales specific to head and neck cancer. Very few surveys contain items related to patients' attitudes (behaviors), or the number of items related to this topic is small because most of these scales are functional items. Unlike its counterparts in the literature, Head and Neck Cancer Inventory evaluates the attitudes (behaviors) of patients associated with various functions in daily life. Head and Neck Cancer Inventory is the only scale in the literature that contains the basic features of the health conditions declared by the patient and has been developed specifically for head and neck cancer.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Voluntarily accepting to participate in the study
• Patients whose native language is Turkish
• Patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients whose health conditions are too bad to fill the scale
• Having a serious mental disorder or dementia