Testing of the psychometrics of “fear of recurrence” - Chinese version (FOR-C) in lung cancer patients after surgery in Taiwan (#67)
Background: Fear of cancer recurrence (FOR) is one of the most critical concerns in cancer patients. For the high mortality rate in lung cancer, patients with such diagnosis may worry even more about cancer recurrence than other types of cancer patients. However, there is no Chinese version of fear of cancer recurrence instrument available for clinical and research assessment. The purpose of this study is to develop the FOR-Chinese Version (FOR-C Version) and evaluate its reliability and validity. Methods: A cross-sectional instrument testing study was conducted with 160 early stage lung cancer patients were recruited from a medical center in Taiwan. The reliability and validity of FOR-C Version was examined by (1) the internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha); (2) content validity is estimated by five thoracic oncology experts and nurse researchers; (3) construct validity is evaluated by the correlation with other measures, including Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Mishel’s Uncertainty in Illness Scale (MUIS), and Physical Functional Subscale of the EORTC 30-item Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ –C30). The study was approved by the National Taiwan University Hospital’s Institutional Review Board. Results: FOR-C Version had satisfactory content validity and good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.9). Construct validity of FOR-C Version were examined by testing the correlation with theoretical supported variables. FOR-C Version had a positive moderate correlation with depression, anxiety, and uncertainty and a low negative relationship with physical function (all p-value < 0.05). Conclusion: FOR-C Version is a reliable and valid instrument to assess patients’ such concerns. We suggest that clinicians should apply this instrument to assess the levels of fear of recurrence in lung cancer patients and to intervene their concerns, particularly, for those with severe or overwhelming FOC.