Psychometric testing of the Chinese-version cancer needs questionnaire short form head and neck cancer-specific version in oral cavity cancer patients

Purpose: The purposes of this two-phase study were to (1) develop and examine the content validity and feasibility of the Chinese-version cancer needs questionnaire, short form, head and neck cancer-specific version (CNQ-SF-hn) (phase I), and (2) examine its psychometric characteristics as supported by reliability and construct validity (phase II) in oral cavity cancer patients in Taiwan. Methods: Newly diagnosed oral cavity cancer patients (N=206) were recruited from a medical center in northern Taiwan. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and psychometric analyses. Results: The results showed that the CNQ-SF-hn (1) had good internal consistency reliability for the overall scale and subscales; (2) had good 1-week test-retest reliability (correlation=0.80) for the overall scale; (3) had construct validity, supported by six clearly identified factors explaining 74.87% of the variance; and (4) had convergent validity, supported by correlations among its subscales and related scales, as well as by discriminating care needs according to undergoing versus not undergoing reconstructive surgery and cancer stage. Conclusions: The Chinese-version CNQ-SF-hn is a psychometrically satisfactory instrument. Further validation is suggested for its factor structure and different head and neck cancers.