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The clinical significance of quality of life assessments in oncology: a summary for clinicians
Abstract
Background A series of six manuscripts with an introduction appeared in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, based upon the collective effort of 30 individuals with an interest and expertise in assessing the clinical significance of quality of life (QOL) assessments. The series of manuscripts described the state of the science of QOL assessments in oncology clinical research and practice and included extensive literature and theoretical justification for the continued inclusion of QOL in oncology clinical research and practice. Objectives The purpose of this paper is to produce a summary of these articles and to supplement these works with additional information that was gleaned from subsequent meetings and discussions of this material. The primary aim of this paper is to present a cogent and concise description for clinicians to facilitate the incorporation of QOL assessments into oncology clinical research and practice. The theoretical discussion is supplemented with an example of how the various ideas can be operationalized in an oncology clinical trial.
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“Although MCIDs have yet to be determined for measures of fatigue interference, guidelines on MCIDs for pain interference and quality-of-life measures suggest that an effect size of .5 (.5 SD) is clinically meaningful [57–60].”
From Protocol of a randomized trial of acceptance and commitment therapy for fatigue interference in metastatic breast cancer (2020) · cites this paper as [59]
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“As reported in prior literature, interventions must achieve a 50% or more reduction in hot flash frequency and daily interference to be considered clinically significant.37,39,40”
From Self-Administered Hypnosis vs Sham Hypnosis for Hot Flashes (2025) · cites this paper as [39]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Sloan, J. A., Frost, M. H., Berzon, R., Dueck, A., Guyatt, G., Moinpour, C., Sprangers, M., Ferrans, C., Cella, D., & Clinical Significance Consensus Meeting Group
- Affiliations
- Mayo Clinic (US)
- Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany) (DE)
- McMaster University (CA)
- Fred Hutch Cancer Center (US)
- Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam (NL)
- University of Illinois Chicago (US)
- Northwestern University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sloan, Jeff A.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Supportive Care in Cancer
- Published
- 2006-06-23
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 988-998
- ISSN
- 0941-4355 (ISSN-L)
- 1433-7339
- OpenAlex
- W2072639223
- Cited by
- 149
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 1.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Supportive Care in Cancer (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Opioid Use
- Keywords
- quality of life assessment, oncology, clinical significance, cancer clinical trials, patient-reported outcomes, clinical practice
- MeSH terms
- Clinical Competence, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Medical Oncology, Neoplasms, Physician-Patient Relations, Quality of Life, Practice Guidelines as Topic, Sickness Impact Profile
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