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Psychometric testing of the Mandarin version of the 34-item Short-Form Supportive Care Needs Survey in patients with cancer in mainland China

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Abstract

Purpose

Although the Supportive Care Needs Survey is one of the most comprehensive and robust cancer-specific needs assessment instruments, no version exists specifically for cancer patients in mainland China. This study tested the psychometric properties of the Mandarin version of the 34-item Short-Form Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-SF34-C (Mandarin)) in mainland Chinese cancer patients.

Methods

From December 2015 to May 2016, patients were recruited from two cancer centers in Guangzhou, China, to complete the SCNS-SF34-C (Mandarin). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to test the factor structure. The internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the resulting factor structure were evaluated by traditional psychometric analysis.

Results

A total of 861 patients completed the SCNS-SF34-C (Mandarin). Item 14 was removed for its low factor loadings on every factor in the initial EFA. Using the remaining 33 items, the reiterated EFA produced a five-dimension structure that was consistent with the dimensions of the original version of the SCNS-SF34 (health system and information, psychological, patient care and support, physical and daily living, and sexuality), accounting for 69.757% of the total variance. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from 0.854 to 0.942 for the five domains and 0.947 for the whole scale. Convergent validity was verified by significant correlations with all corresponding instruments. It discriminated between groups based on age, sex, marital status, and stage of disease.

Conclusions

Preliminary evidence suggests that the SCNS-SF34-C (Mandarin) is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the supportive care needs of cancer patients in mainland China.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grant #A2015141 from the Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Guangdong Province, China. The authors express thanks to Min Wei, Weiwen Cui, Qing Zhang, Guilian He, Jialing Lu, Xueying Xiao, Jingjing He, and Hongyan Shao for the contributions to questionnaire translation, data collection, and data management. The authors are grateful to every patient for participating in the survey. The authors thank Markeda Wade, ELS, at UTHealth School of Nursing for editorial review of the manuscript. Prof. Cui is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81372493). Dr. Wang is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars Program (Grant No. 71245). Dr. Boyes is supported by a National Health & Medical Research Council Early Career Fellowship (Grant No. 1073317) and Cancer Institute New South Wales Early Career Fellowship (Grant No. 13/ECF/1-37).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Center of Guangzhou Medical University, No. 78, Hengzhi Gang Road, Guangzhou, China

    Yuan Han, Yalan Song & Shuzhong Cui

  2. School of Nursing, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China

    Yuan Han & Ying Zhou

  3. School of Nursing, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, USA

    Jing Wang

  4. School of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China

    Qian Zhao

  5. Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Huiying Qin & Yuying Fan

  6. Priority Research Centre for Health Behavior, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia

    Allison Boyes

  7. Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, Australia

    Allison Boyes

  8. Hunter Cancer Research Alliance, Newcastle, Australia

    Allison Boyes

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  1. Yuan Han
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  2. Ying Zhou
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  3. Jing Wang
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  9. Shuzhong Cui
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Correspondence to Shuzhong Cui.

Ethics declarations

The study was approved by the ethics committees of Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center and the Cancer Center of Guangzhou Medical University in Guangzhou, China.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Han, Y., Zhou, Y., Wang, J. et al. Psychometric testing of the Mandarin version of the 34-item Short-Form Supportive Care Needs Survey in patients with cancer in mainland China. Support Care Cancer 25, 3329–3338 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-3750-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-3750-4

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