{"entity":{"id":"paper-aaronson-eortc-qlq-c30-jnci-1993","kind":"paper","name":"Aaronson 1993: the EORTC QLQ-C30 quality of life questionnaire","aka":[],"tldr":"The 30-question form that lets cancer trials measure how patients feel and function, tested first in lung cancer patients across 13 countries and now used in thousands of studies.","summary":"Aaronson and the EORTC Study Group on Quality of Life designed a core questionnaire for use in international cancer trials and tested it in 305 patients with non-resectable lung cancer in 13 countries before and during treatment. The QLQ-C30 covers five functioning scales (physical, role, cognitive, emotional and social), symptom scales for fatigue, pain and nausea and vomiting, single items for other common symptoms and financial impact, and a global health and quality of life scale. Its scales showed acceptable reliability, distinguished patients by performance status and weight loss, and changed with clinical status over time.","asOf":"2026-09-08","links":[{"label":"Full text (DOI)","url":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/85.5.365"},{"label":"EORTC Quality of Life Group","url":"https://qol.eortc.org/"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["nsclc"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["quality-of-life","qol-pro"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"journal":"JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute","year":1993,"doi":"10.1093/jnci/85.5.365","authors":"Aaronson NK, Ahmedzai S, Bergman B, et al.","paperType":"methods","findings":["Field-tested in 305 lung cancer patients from 13 countries, before and during treatment.","Thirty items forming five functioning scales, three symptom scales, six single items and a global quality of life scale.","Scales were reliable, distinguished clinically distinct patient groups and responded to change in clinical status."],"whatItMeans":"The QLQ-C30 made patient-reported quality of life a standard trial endpoint and is the instrument behind many of the quality of life claims on drug labels and in health technology assessments. Cancer-specific modules were later added on top of the core questionnaire.","caveats":["Validated first in lung cancer; later modules extend it to other cancers.","Quality of life data in trials are often incomplete because sicker patients stop filling in forms."],"changedPractice":true},"route":"/key-papers/paper-aaronson-eortc-qlq-c30-jnci-1993/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/nsclc/"}],"term":[{"id":"quality-of-life","kind":"term","name":"Quality of life","route":"/terms/quality-of-life/"},{"id":"qol-pro","kind":"term","name":"Quality of life and patient-reported outcomes (QoL, PRO)","route":"/terms/qol-pro/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-cella-fact-g-jco-1993","kind":"paper","name":"Cella 1993: the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT-G) quality of life scale","route":"/key-papers/paper-cella-fact-g-jco-1993/"}]}}