Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Psychometric properties of the German version of the Short-Form Supportive Care Needs Survey Questionnaire (SCNS-SF34-G)

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Supportive Care in Cancer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The recommendation to screen for distress and supportive care needs among cancer patients focuses on improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of comprehensive cancer care. The purpose of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the German version of the Short-Form Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-SF34-G).

Methods

One thousand forty-seven participants with heterogeneous tumor entities were recruited in inpatient and outpatient cancer care facilities (female, 51%; median age, 57 years; breast cancer, 26%; prostate cancer, 22%). Concurrent and divergent validity of the SCNS-SF34-G was analyzed through associations with measures of distress, depression, anxiety, and social support.

Results

Principal component analyses revealed five dimensions replicating the factorial structure of the original SCNS-SF34 (health system and information, psychological, physical and daily living, patient care and support, sexuality needs) explaining 68% of variance. Cronbach's alpha values ranged from 0.82 to 0.94. Convergent validity was supported by significant correlations between all SCNS-SF34-G subscales and psychosocial burden. Divergent validity was indicated by marginal correlations with social support. The SCNS-SF34-G was able to discriminate patient groups with respect to sex and age but not regarding tumor stage.

Conclusions

The SCNS-SF34-G is an instrument with excellent psychometric properties for assessing supportive care needs among patients with various cancer entities. It seems to be useful to integrate the questionnaire into diagnostic assessment to tailor interventions according to patient needs. Further research is needed to gain knowledge of the development of unmet needs during the illness trajectory as well as of associations with offer and utilization of healthcare services.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2011) Early and locally advanced breast cancer: diagnosis and treatment. www.nice.org.uk. Accessed 20 January 2011

  2. World Health Organization (WHO) (2011) Cancer control: knowledge into action. WHO guide for effective programmes. Diagnosis and treatment http://www.who.int/cancer/modules/FINAL_Module_4.pdf. Accessed 20 January 2011

  3. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (2011) Guidance for industry. Patient-reported outcome measures: use in medical product development to support labeling claims. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guidances/UCM193282.pdf. Accessed 20 January 2011

  4. Wen K, Gustafson DH (2004) Needs assessment for cancer patients and their families. Health Qual Life Outcomes 2:11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Snyder CF, Garrett-Mayer E, Brahmer JR, Carducci MA, Pili R, Stearns V, Wolff AC, Dy SM, Wu AW (2008) Symptoms, supportive care needs, and function in cancer patients: how are they related? Qual Life Res 17:665–677

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Akechi T, Okuyama T, Endo C, Sagawa R, Uchida M, Nakaguchi T, Akazawa T, Yamashita H, Toyama T, Furukawa TA (2011) Patient's perceived need and psychological distress and/or quality of life in ambulatory breast cancer patients in Japan. Psychooncology 20:497–505

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Liao Y, Liao W, Shun S, Yu C, Yang P, Lai Y (2010) Symptoms, psychological distress, and supportive care needs in lung cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 19:1743–51

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Snyder CF, Garrett-Mayer E, Blackford AL, Brahmer JR, Carducci MA, Pili R, Stearns V, Wolff AC, Dy SM, Wu AW (2009) Concordance of cancer patients' function, symptoms, and supportive care needs. Qual Life Res 18:991–998

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Richardson A, Medina J, Brown V, Sitzia J (2007) Patients' needs assessment in cancer care: a review of assessment tools. Support Care Cancer 15:1125–1144

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Bonevski B, Sanson-Fisher R, Girgis A, Burton L, Cook P, Boyes A (2000) Evaluation of an instrument to assess the needs of patients with cancer. Supportive Care Review Group. Cancer 88:217–225

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Lattimore-Foot GG (1996) Needs assessment in tertiary and secondary oncology practice: A conceptual and methodological exposition. PhD thesis, Newcastle

  12. Boyes A, Girgis A, Lecathelinais C (2009) Brief assessment of adult cancer patients' perceived needs: development and validation of the 34-item Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-SF34). J Eval Clin Pract 15:602–606

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Hwang SY, Park B (2006) The perceived care needs of breast cancer patients in Korea. Yonsei Med J 47:524–533

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Okuyama T, Akechi T, Yamashita H, Toyama T, Endo C, Sagawa R, Uchida M, Furukawa TA (2009) Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Short-form Supportive Care Needs Survey Questionnaire (SCNS-SF34-J). Psychooncology 18:1003–1010

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Au A, Lam WWT, Kwong A, Suen D, Tsang J, Yeo W, Suen J, Ho WM, Yau TK, Soong I, Wong KY, Sze WK, Ng A, Girgis A, Fielding R (2010) Validation of the Chinese version of the Short-form Supportive Care Needs Survey Questionnaire (SCNS-SF34-C). Psychooncology. doi:10.1002/pon.1851

  16. McElduff P, Boyes A, Zucca A, Girgis A (2004) The Supportive Care Needs Survey: a guide to administration, scoring and analysis. Centre for Health Research & Psycho-Oncology, Newcastle

    Google Scholar 

  17. Husmann G (2010) Krebs in Deutschland: 2005/2006. Häufigkeiten und Trends. Eine gemeinsame Veröffentlichung des Robert Koch-Instituts und der Gesellschaft der Epidemiologischen Krebsregister in Deutschland e.V. Berlin, Saarbrücken: Robert Koch-Inst; GEKID.

  18. Mehnert A, Müller D, Lehmann C, Koch U (2006) Die deutsche Version des NCCN Distress-Thermometers. Z Psychiatr Psychol Psychother 54:213–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Mehnert A, Lehmann C, Cao P, Koch U (2006) Die Erfassung psychosozialer Belastungen und Ressourcen in der Onkologie - Ein Literaturüberblick zu Screeningmethoden und Entwicklungstrends. Psychother Psychosom Med Psychol 56:462–479

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Hull C (1928) Aptitude testing. World Book Company, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  21. Dawis R (2000) Scale construction and psychometric considerations. In: Tinsley HEA, Brown S (eds) Handbook of applied multivariate statistics and mathematical modelling. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 65–92

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  22. Wang K, Chang N, Wu T, Hsu C, Lee Y, Lee S (2010) Post-discharge health care needs of patients after lung cancer resection. J Clin Nurs 19:2471–2480

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Cossich T, Schofield P, McLachlan SA (2004) Validation of the cancer needs questionnaire (CNQ) short-form version in an ambulatory cancer setting. Qual Life Res 13:1225–1233

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Herrmann C, Buss U, Snaith RP (1995) HADS-D–Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale–Deutsche Version: Ein Fragebogen zur Erfassung von Angst und Depressivität in der somatischen Medizin. Huber, Bern

    Google Scholar 

  25. Ullrich A, Mehnert A (2010) Psychometrische Evaluation and Validierung einer 8-Item Kurzversion der Skalen zur Sozialen Unterstützung bei Krankheit (SSUK) bei Krebspatienten. Klin Diagn Eval 3:359–381

    Google Scholar 

  26. Hays RD, Anderson R, Revicki D (1993) Psychometric considerations in evaluating health-related quality of life measures. Qual Life Res 2:441–449

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Terwee CB, Bot SD, de Boer MR, van der Windt DA, Knol DL, Dekker J, Bouter LM, Vet HC (2007) Quality criteria were proposed for measurement properties of health status questionnaires. J Clin Epidemiol 60:34–42

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Uchida M, Akechi T, Okuyama T, Sagawa R, Nakaguchi T, Endo C, Yamashita H, Toyama T, Furukawa TA (2011) Patients' supportive care needs and psychological distress in advanced breast cancer patients in Japan. Jpn J Clin Oncol 41:530–536

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Harrison JD, Young JM, Price MA, Butow PN, Solomon MJ (2009) What are the unmet supportive care needs of people with cancer? A systematic review. Support Care Cancer 17:1117–1128

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. McDowell ME, Occhipinti S, Ferguson M, Dunn J, Chambers SK (2010) Predictors of change in unmet supportive care needs in cancer. Psychooncology 19:508–516

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Im E, Chee W, Guevara E, Lim H, Liu Y, Shin H (2008) Gender and ethnic differences in cancer patients' needs for help: an Internet survey. Int J Nurs Stud 45:1192–1204

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by grants from the Barbara and Michael Hell Stiftung Hamburg and the German Cancer Aid, Germany. The Psycho-Oncological and Palliative Care Research Group at the Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, is funded by grants from the Fritz und Hildegard Berg-Stiftung and the Stiftung Wissenschaft Hamburg within the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany.

Conflict of interest

The authors confirm that there is no actual or potential conflict of interest regarding the manuscript “Validation of the German version of the Short-form Supportive Care Needs Survey Questionnaire (SCNS-SF34-G).” The authors confirm also that they have full control of all primary data, and they agree to allow the journal to review their data if requested.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, W26, 20246, Hamburg, Germany

    Claudia Lehmann, Uwe Koch & Anja Mehnert

Authors
  1. Claudia Lehmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Uwe Koch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anja Mehnert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claudia Lehmann.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lehmann, C., Koch, U. & Mehnert, A. Psychometric properties of the German version of the Short-Form Supportive Care Needs Survey Questionnaire (SCNS-SF34-G). Support Care Cancer 20, 2415–2424 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-011-1351-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-011-1351-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation