ABSTRACT
Objective To validate the effectiveness of the Chinese version of the EORTC QLQ‐OES18 in the patients with e‐sophageal cancer .Methods The QLQ‐OES18 questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life in 112 patients with esophageal cancer .The results of various items were statistically analyzed by adopting the Cronbach′s coefficient ,Spearman correlation analy‐sis ,multiple strengthen analysis and Wilcoxon Rank Sum test .Results The Cronbach′sαcoefficient of four multi‐item dimensions (dysphagia ,eating ,reflux and pain) was 0 .607-0 .822 ,moreover the correlation coefficients of all items with their own dimensions were more than those of other dimensions .The absolute values of correlation coefficients in each dimension between EORTC QLQ‐OES18 and EORTC QLQ‐C30 were 0 .002-0 .538 .The difference of swallowing item among the groups by KPS scores had statisti‐cal significance (P<0 .05) .Conclusion EORTC QLQ‐OES18 scale has better credibility and validity ,and can be used for evalua‐ting the quality of life in the patients with esophageal cancer .