Development of a distress inventory for cancer: preliminary results.

Journal of Postgraduate Medicine

关键词: Adolescent;    Adult;    Aged;    Aged;    80 and over;    Factor Analysis;    Statistical;    Female;    Head and Neck Neoplasms;    psychology;    Human;    Male;    Middle Age;    Psychiatric Status Rating Scales;    Quality of Life;    Questionnaires;    Self Assessment (Psychology);    Stress;    Psychological;    diagnosis;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

CONTEXT: Advances in cancer treatment have led to cure and prolongation of patients′ lives; however associated psychosocial problems, including distress, can detrimentally affect patients′ compliance with treatment and ultimately, their outcome. Symptom distress has been well addressed in many studies; however, psychological distress has only been quantified by using depression or anxiety scales/checklists or quality of life scales containing a distress sub scale/component or by the use of scales that are not psychological distress-specific. AIMS: The present study is an attempt to construct a psychological distress inventory for specific use with cancer patients. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The standardisation sample consisted of 63 randomly selected patients with head and neck cancer who had undergone/ were undergoing curative treatment at the Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The Distress Inventory for Cancer contained 57 positively and negatively toned items. An item analysis was conducted, followed by a factor analysis, thereby identifying the domains influencing distress. RESULTS: The final questionnaire contained 26 items subdivided into four domains viz. the personal, spiritual, physical, and the family domains, with each domain providing a sub score. The reliability coefficient (Cronbach′s alpha) of the scale was found to be 0.85. CONCLUSIONS: These are the preliminary results of an ongoing study on global distress and tool development process. Reported here is the first step towards development of such tool.

【 授权许可】

Unknown