Overview
The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – Biological Response Modifier (FACT-BRM) measures quality of life in cancer patients who are receiving treatment with biologic response modifiers. Using the FACT-G as a base, 17 additional items related to symptoms common to interferon and retinoid therapy were developed. Data collected at baseline (n = 191) and week 2 (n = 168) in a randomized trial of interferon ±13-cis-retinoic acid in advanced renal cell carcinoma patients were used to validate the instrument. Using a combined empirical and conceptual approach, the 17 items were reduced to 13 items consisting of two subscales: ‘BRM-physical’ (7 items) and ‘BRM-mental’ (6 items). Internal consistency of the trial outcome index (TOI) combining physical well-being, functional well-being and the BRM subscales, was 0.91 for baseline assessments and 0.92 for week 2. Discriminant validity was demonstrated for the TOI by its ability to differentiate among prognostic risk groups, and for the total FACT-G, TOI and total FACT–BRM scores by their ability to distinguish between groups differing in performance, response and toxicity status.
MEASURE NAME:
Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Biologic Response Modifiers (FACT-BRM)
VERSION:
4
NUMBER OF ITEMS:
40
PATIENT POPULATION:
Cancer patients 18 years and older receiving treatment with biological response modifiers
RECALL PERIOD:
Past 7 days
RESPONSE SCALE:
5 point Likert-type scale
DATA COLLECTION:
Paper and electronic
ADMINISTRATION:
Self-administration and interview when applicable
SUBSCALE DOMAINS:
Physical Well-Being, Social/Family Well-Being, Emotional Well-Being, Functional Well-Being, BRM-Physical, BRM-Mental
TIME FOR COMPLETION:
10-15 minutes
SCORING:
Manual scoring template, some items are reverse scored. Subscale scores, total scores and TOI scores possible. SAS/SPSS algorithms available.
RELATED MEASURES:
Language Availability
Available translations of the FACT-BRM can be obtained by registering for permission. Users are not permitted to translate the FACT-BRM without permission from FACIT.org. Permission from FACIT.org to translate the FACT-BRM may also be contingent upon timeline expectations and availability of FACIT staff. Translations must undergo a rigorous methodology under the guidance of FACIT.org which includes multiple translators, QA steps and cognitive interviews with patients. For commercial use, FACITtrans is the approved translation vendor to translate the FACIT measurement system.
Please contact us for more information.
Licensing
Licensing fees are assessed on a per trial/per measure basis for commercial use. There is no fee for use of the English version, but a license should be obtained.
Non-commercial use is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Licensing fees are typically not applied to investigator-initiated research, students, or clinical use.
To license an available version of this measure for commercial or non-commercial use, please complete our registration form. All of the information provided in the form will be kept strictly confidential. For questions, please contact us.
Selected References
Bacik, J., Mazumdar, M., Murphy, B., Fairclough, D., Eremenco, S., Mariani, T., Motzer, R., & Cella, D. The functional assessment of cancer therapy-BRM (FACT-BRM): A new tool for the assessment of quality of life in patients treated with biologic response modifiers. Quality of Life Research 2004; 13(1): 137-154.
Bonomi, A.E., Cella, D.D., Hahn, E.A., Bjordal, K., Sperner, B., Gangeri, L., Bergman, B., Willems, J., Hanquet, P., & Zittoun, R. Multilingual translation of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) quality of life measurement system. Quality of Life Research 1996; 5: 309-320.
Eremenco, S., Arnold, B., Cella, D. A comprehensive method for the translation and cross-cultural validation of health status questionnaires. Evaluation & the Health Professions 2005; 28(2): 212-232.
Webster K., Cella D., Yost K. The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) measurement system: Properties applications, and interpretation. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2003; 1(1): 79-85.
Yost K.J., Eton D.T. Combining distribution- and anchor-based approaches to determine minimally important differences: The FACIT experience. Evaluation & the Health Professions 2005; 28(2): 172-191.
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