Zhongguo quanke yixue (Jun 2023)

Fear of Cancer Recurrence Assessment Tools Based on COSMIN: a Systematic Review

  • ZHANG Lulu, CHEN Huan, LUO Huan, CHEN Tingting, CHEN Xinyu, GAO Jing

DOI
https://doi.org/10.12114/j.issn.1007-9572.2022.0810
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 26, no. 17
pp. 2138 – 2146

Abstract

Read online

Background There is a wide variety of scales that can be used to assess fear of cancer recurrence both domestically and internationally. Currently, the fear of cancer recurrence can be assessed by multiple domestic and foreign scales, most of which are self-report scales. However, it remains difficult to select assessment tools due to the lack of the systematic reviews of the measurement characteristics of such scales.Objective To systematically review the measurement characteristics and methodological quality of fear of cancer recurrence assessment tools in cancer patients, so as to provide reference for healthcare staff to select more appropriate assessment tools.Methods The search was performed in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Data, and China Biomedical Literature Database from the inception to September 10, 2022 for the measurement characteristic of fear of cancer recurrence assessment tools. Data were extracted independently by two researchers and the included assessment tools was evaluated by the Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) system, to derive the final recommendations.Results A total of 24 studies were included, involving 6 fear of cancer recurrence assessment tools, including the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory (FCRI) , Fear of Progression Questionnaire (FOPQ) , 7-item Fear of Cancer Recurrence Scale (FCR-7) , 1-item Fear of Cancer Recurrence (FCR-1) , Cancer Worry Scale (CWS) , and Assessment of Survivor Concerns (ASC) . In terms of the quality of measurement characteristics, the content validity of the scales were "uncertain" except for FCR-1 ("inadequate") , FCR-7 ("inadequate") and CWS ("not reported") , the construct validity of the scales were "uncertain" except for FCR-1 ("not reported") , the internal consistency of the scales were "adequate" except for FCR-1 ("uncertain") and ASC ("inadequate") , the stability of the scales were "uncertain" except for FCR-1 ("uncertain") and ASC ("not reported") . the criterion validity were "inadequate" except for ASC ("not reported") , the cross-cultural validity of the scales were "not reported" except for FCRI ("uncertain") and ASC ("uncertain") . In the end, FCRI, FOPQ, FCR-7, FCR-1, and CWS were considered as level B recommendation, and ASC was considered as level C recommendation.Conclusion Each measurement characteristic of FCRI has been evaluated more comprehensively with good reliability and validity, which can be temporarily recommended. However, other measurement characteristics still need to be verified.

Keywords