Evaluation of an Instrument to Assess the Needs of Patients with Cancer (original) (raw)
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Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 2009
Objective This study aimed to develop and validate a short version of the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS) that would reduce respondent burden and could be used in routine cancer care, without compromising the psychometric properties of the original instrument. Methods Secondary analyses of the data from two studies (n = 888 and 250) were undertaken. All 59 items of the original SCNS were assessed using psychometric analyses and evaluated for clinical utility. The 34 items retained were examined for internal consistency, ceiling and floor effects, known groups validity, convergent validity, sensitivity and readability. Results The 34-item instrument has five factors (psychological, health system and information, physical and daily living, patient care and support, and sexuality needs) identical to the original instrument, explaining 73% of the variance. Internal consistency was high with Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the five factors ranging from 0.86 to 0.96. Correlations of the 34-item short-form SCNS (SCNS-SF34) with three other measures of psychosocial well-being demonstrated convergent validity (r = 0.48-0.56). Kappa coefficients of at least 0.83 for each domain indicated almost perfect agreement between the 34-item and 59-item surveys to identify patients needing help. The 34-item SCNS maintained the psychometric properties of the original instrument and could be readily comprehended by people with seventh to eighth grade education. Conclusions The SCNS-SF34 is a valid instrument for measuring cancer patients' perceived needs across a range of domains, and could be utilized as part of routine cancer care.
Supportive Care in Cancer, 2007
Goals of work Questionnaires used in oncology practice for individual patient management need to address issues patients find important and want help with and issues cancer center health professionals can address. We investigated the item content from two health-related quality-oflife (HRQOL) questionnaires and two needs assessments for this purpose. Patients and methods In this preliminary study, 61 cancer patients and 19 cancer center health professionals rated the item content from the EORTC-QLQ-C30, FACT-G, Supportive Care Needs Survey-34 (SCNS), and Kingston Needs Assessment-Cancer. Patients rated each item's importance and whether they wanted help with it; health professionals rated each item's importance and whether they felt able to help patients address it. Patients and health professionals also reported their overall questionnaire preference. Main results Patients rated information about treatments (options, benefits, side effects) and care coordination as the most important issues and those for which they most wanted help from their health professionals. Health professionals rated pain and other symptom/side effect items as most important to patients and those for which they were most able to help. Findings were consistent across tumor type and treatment status. Patients had an overall preference for the SCNS. Health professionals had no clear questionnaire preference. Conclusions This preliminary study suggests that the issues patients most want help with may not be the issues that health professionals feel most able to address. If these findings are confirmed in more representative samples, interventions may be needed to assist health professionals in managing cancer patients' HRQOL issues and needs.
The short-form Cancer Needs Questionnaire (CNQ) is a self-administered cancer-specific questionnaire designed to assess patients' needs across several domains. The purpose of this study is to further evaluate its internal consistency and construct validity, in a group of ambulatory patients with cancer. Four hundred and fifty patients with a variety of cancer types participated. Factor analysis reproduced five domains: psychological; health information; physical and daily living; patient care and support; and interpersonal communication needs. Cronbach's a coefficients ranged from 0.94 to 0.77, indicating substantial consistency across items grouped in the five domains. A priori predictions regarding convergent and contrasting groups construct validity were explored using bivariate relationships between domains of the short-form CNQ, the EORTC QLQC-30 and Beck Depression Inventory (short-form), with support provided for most of the predictions. The current study provides supportive evidence that the short-form CNQ is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the needs of patients with cancer in an ambulatory care setting.
Assessment of hospitalised cancer patients' needs by the Needs Evaluation Questionnaire
Annals of Oncology, 2000
Background: Cancer disease modifies the order and the nature of needs connected with the state of health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the informative, psychological, social and practical needs of hospitalised cancer patients by means of the Needs Evaluation Questionnaire (NEQ), an instrument designed concisely for the convenience of patients and medical staff. Patients and methods: Different samples of consecutive hospitalised cancer patients were involved in the various phases of designing the instrument: 30 patients for items identification, 101 patients for completeness and acceptability evaluation, 423 patients for construct validity and prevalence of needs; content and reliability analysis were performed on 2 subsamples of, respectively, 60 and 88 of the patients from the last sample. Results: The validation analysis showed rather good reliability , structure validity and internal consistency of the questionnaire. The prevalence analysis showed that the most common needs were: 'more information about my future conditions' (74%); 'more information about my diagnosis' (56%); 'more information about the exams I am undergoing' (52%); 'more explanations on treatments' (51%); 'to have a better dialogue with clinicians' (57%); 'better services from the hospital' (bathrooms, meals, cleaning) (56%). Conclusions: The NEQ, self-completed by patients, has proven to be a useful clinical tool for obtaining a systematic and undistorted overview of the principal needs with respect to the state of health of patients. This instrument, which can also be administered by persons not belonging to the health care system such as volunteers, and inserted into the patients' hospital charts, could be used by the medical staff to identify the real needs of patients at an early stage.
Unmet needs in cancer patients: development of a supportive needs screening tool (SNST)
Supportive Care in Cancer, 2009
Goals of work A diagnosis of cancer can have a profound impact on the physical, emotional, psychological, social and spiritual areas of a person's life. Supportive care services are directed towards this full range of issues associated with cancer. Identification of need is the first step in meeting supportive care concerns, but there is a lack of tools and processes regularly used in clinical practice. This article reports the first steps in the development of a supportive needs screening tool appropriate for use in an oncology outpatient setting. Materials and methods A review of the literature was undertaken, and a draft tool developed using a process of item reduction. A small pre-test followed by a pilot test with 87 patients attending Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne Australia was undertaken. Evaluation to identify usability and acceptability in clinical practice included descriptive statistics to profile patient needs and referrals generated by the supportive needs screening tool (SNST), interviews with a small sample of participants and surveys completed by staff.
Mapping the psychosocial and practical support needs of cancer patients in Western Australia
European Journal of Cancer Care, 2011
Mapping the psychosocial and practical support needs of cancer patients in Western Australia Understanding the unmet needs of cancer patients is important for developing and refining services to address the identified gaps in cancer care. In order to describe the psychological and practical support needs of Western Australians with cancer, the Western Australian Cancer Registry was used to identify a sample of individuals with cancer. These individuals were then invited to complete the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-LF59) and a demographic questionnaire. Data from participants who completed and returned both questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and one-way anova. Of the 1770 participants identified and contacted, a total of 829 individuals (47% response) completed the SCNS-LF59 alone, and 786 (94.8%) completed both questionnaires. Overall, a substantial minority of Western Australian cancer patients reported unmet needs, primarily in the psychological and physical and daily living domains. Disease-specific needs were also identified for the five most common cancer groups in Australia; for example, prostate cancer patients had unmet needs relating to sexuality, and melanoma patients had unmet informational needs. Cancer services need to look at how best to tailor resources and interventions to meet these needs of specific cancer subpopulations.
Predictors of change in unmet supportive care needs in cancer
Psycho-Oncology, 2010
Objective: Patient Reported Outcome (PRO) assessments can assist health professionals to tailor their health practices to the individual needs of patients and improve patient care over time. The present study assessed prospective predictors of unmet supportive care needs in cancer patients over a six month period.