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| BRIEF REPORT |
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| Year : 2002 | Volume
: 48
| Issue : 1 | Page : 16-20 |
Development of a distress inventory for cancer: preliminary results.
B Thomas, VN Mohan, I Thomas, M Pandey
Department of Futures Studies, University of Kerala, and Division of Surgical Oncology, Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, India. , India
Correspondence Address:
B Thomas
Department of Futures Studies, University of Kerala, and Division of Surgical Oncology, Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, India.
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
PMID: 12082320 
CONTEXT: Advances in cancer treatment have led to cure and prolongation of patients' lives; however associated psychosocial problems, including distress, can detrimentally affect patients' compliance with treatment and ultimately, their outcome. Symptom distress has been well addressed in many studies; however, psychological distress has only been quantified by using depression or anxiety scales/checklists or quality of life scales containing a distress sub scale/component or by the use of scales that are not psychological distress-specific. AIMS: The present study is an attempt to construct a psychological distress inventory for specific use with cancer patients. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The standardisation sample consisted of 63 randomly selected patients with head and neck cancer who had undergone/ were undergoing curative treatment at the Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The Distress Inventory for Cancer contained 57 positively and negatively toned items. An item analysis was conducted, followed by a factor analysis, thereby identifying the domains influencing distress. RESULTS: The final questionnaire contained 26 items subdivided into four domains viz. the personal, spiritual, physical, and the family domains, with each domain providing a sub score. The reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) of the scale was found to be 0.85. CONCLUSIONS: These are the preliminary results of an ongoing study on global distress and tool development process. Reported here is the first step towards development of such tool.
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