Translation and psychometric testing of the Thai version of Cancer Survivors’ Unmet Needs measure among cancer survivors

Objective

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Thai version of the Cancer Survivors’ Unmet needs (CaSUN-TH) scale among Thai cancer survivors after completion of primary treatment.

Methods

Standardized translation procedures developed the CaSUN-TH. Face validity was evaluated by a group of experts, and a pilot test on 10 cancer patients was conducted to evaluate its readability. A total 236 cancer survivors who were attending follow-up visits at a cancer hospital in Thailand completed the CaSUN-TH. The internal consistency of instrument was examined using Cronbach’s α. The association of the CaSUN-TH and its subscales with physical symptoms, QoL, age, gender, and type of cancer were examined for criterion validity and known-group validity. Construct validity was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis.

Results

The CaSUN-TH showed good readability and high content validity for use as an instrument to assess unmet needs among Thai cancer survivors. Cronbach’s α for the entire scale was 0.95. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the five-factor structure of the CaSUN-TH was good fit to the data (CFI = 0.901, SRMR = 0.074, RMSEA = 0.076 (90% confidence interval, 0.066 - 0.085)). In terms of construct validity, CaSUN-TH scores significantly correlated to other variables hypothesized to influence level of need, including higher physical symptoms prevalence was related to poor quality of life, and poorer QOL and younger age was associated with higher level of unmet needs. In addition, the scale was able to differentiate scores between groups, including gender, age, and type of primary cancer with theoretically hypothesized differences.

Conclusion

The CaSUN-TH demonstrated appropriate psychometric properties for assessing unmet needs in different cancer survivor groups in Thailand. Using the CaSUN-TH can help health professionals target individual survivor needs, bridging the gap between patients’ experiences and their expectations, improving the quality of cancer survivorship care.