Daily Diary Card (Medical Research Council)

Name of Questionnaire

Daily Diary Card (MRC)

Description

Cancer-specific quality of life instrument. Card to be completed daily to examine how general health varies during and after treatment. Development exclusively in patients with lung cancer.

Developer

Medical Research Council's Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases Unit and Clinical Oncology and Radiotherapeutics Unit

Address

Richard Stephens
Cancer Division
MRC Clinical Trials Unit
5 Shaftesbury Road
Cambridge CB2 2BW
UK

E-mail

rs@cto.mrc.ac.uk

URL

Not reported.

Cost & availability

No charge. Contact London Lung Cancer Group for information.

Administration

Self

Time to complete

Not reported.

Number of items

5

Domains & categories

5

Name of categories/domains

Overall condition, physical activity, vomiting, mood, anxiety

Scaling of items

Five-point scale from 1 (most favorable) to 5 (least favorable)

Scoring

Not reported.

Reliability

Validity

Reasonable agreement between patient and clinician-completed DDC's².

Responsiveness

Reported²

Minimally important difference

Not reported.

Research use

Reported - comparison of four-drug vs. less intensive two-drug chemotherapy in palliative treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer and poor prognosis³, palliative two-fraction vs. more intensive 13-fraction radiotherapy in patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer and good performance status⁴, combination chemotherapy vs. selective palliative treatment in small cell lung cancer⁵.

Clinical use

Not reported.

Language

English

References

1. Fayers PM, Jones DR. Measuring and analysing quality of life in cancer clinical trials: a review. Stat Med 1983; 2:429-46.
2. Fayers PM, Bleehen NM, Girling DJ, et al. Assessment of quality of life in small-cell lung cancer using a Daily Diary Card developed by the Medical Research Council Lung Cancer Working Party. Br J Cancer 1991; 64:299-306.
3. Bleehen NM, Girling DJ, Hopwood P, et al. Randomised trial of four-drug vs less intensive two-drug chemotherapy in the palliative treatment of patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and poor prognosis. Medical Research Council Lung Cancer Working Party [published erratum in Br J Cancer 1996; 74(6): 997]. Br J Cancer 1996; 73:406-13.
4. Macbeth FR, Bolger JJ, Hopwood P, et al. Randomized trial of palliative two-fraction versus more intensive 13-fraction radiotherapy for patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer and good performance status. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) 1996; 8:167-75.
5. Bleehen NM, Fayers PM, Girling DJ, et al. Survival, adverse reactions and quality of life during combination chemotherapy compared with selective palliative treatment for small-cell lung cancer. Resp Med 1989; 83:51-8.

Date of information

May 1999