Abstract
Background: Gynecologic cancers are among the most prevalent malignancies in China, and millions of gynecologic cancer patients are expected to undergo open abdominal surgery as initial treatment. The tumor- and surgery-related symptom burden are not well studied owing to a lack of a standardized and validated assessment tool in Chinese. The study was to translate and validate the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory for measuring perioperative symptom burden in gynecologic cancer patients (MDASI-PeriOp-GYN) and examine the utility of the Chinese version.Methods: The MDASI-PeriOp-GYN was translated in a stepwise manner. First, two native speakers independently translated the 9 PeriOp-GYN symptom items. Then the 9 items were translated back into English by another two bilingual translators. After discussion and revision, the four translators reached an agreement. The finalized Chinese version was administered to women with three common gynecologic cancer types (cervical, ovarian, and endometrial cancers) recruited from the gynecological oncology department of Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute between July and October 2019. Reliability and validity of the translated version were assessed. Results: Overall, 324 women with gynecologic cancers were enrolled. Cronbach’s α values were 0.826 and 0.735 for the symptom severity and interference scales, respectively. Test-retest reliability values were 0.885, 0.873, and 0.914 for the symptom severity, PeriOp-GYN, and interference scales, respectively. Significant correlations were found between the MDASI-PeriOp-GYN-C and EORTC QLQ-C30 along with the QLQ-OV28 module (-0.608–0.871, P<0.001). Known-group validity was supported by significant differences in the scores of the four scales grouped by time intervals, surgery type, and functional status (all P<0.01). Conclusions: The MDASI-PeriOp-GYN-C is a valid and reliable tool for measuring symptoms in Chinese patients undergoing surgery for gynecologic cancers. The tool could be used in clinical practice and clinical trials to instantly gather patients’ health and quality of life data.
Psychometric evaluation of the Taiwan Chinese version of the EORTC QLQ-PR25 for HRQOL assessment in prostate cancer patients