Research

Development and validation of a psychosocial screening instrument for cancer

Wolfgang Linden^1,2 , Dahyun Yi¹ , Maria Cristina Barroetavena^2,3 , Regina MacKenzie² and Richard Doll²

¹Psychology Department, The University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Psychology/UBC, Vancouver BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

²British Columbia Cancer Control Agency, Canada

³Health Care and Epidemiology, University of British Columbia, Canada

author email corresponding author email

Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2005, 3:54doi:10.1186/1477-7525-3-54

Published:	7 September 2005

Abstract

Background

We are reporting on the development of a psychosocial screening tool for cancer patients. The tool was to be brief, at a relatively low reading level, capture psychological variables relevant to distress and health-related quality-of-life in cancer patients, possess good reliability and validity, and be free of copyright protection.

Method

Item derivation is described, data on reliability and validity as well as norms are reported for three samples of cancer patients (n = 1057; n = 570, n = 101).

Results

The resulting 21-item psychological screen for cancer (PSCAN) assesses perceived social support, desired social support, health-related quality-of-life, anxiety and depression. It has good psychometrics including high internal consistency (alpha averaging .83, and acceptable test-retest stability over 2 months (averaging r = .64). Validity has been established for content, construct and concurrent validity.

Conclusion

PSCAN is considered ready for use as a screening tool and also for following changes in patient distress throughout the cancer care trajectory. It is freely available to all interested non-profit users.