A POMS short form for cancer patients: psychometric and structural evaluation

Abstract

The internal consistency, validity, and factor structure of the Shacham shortened version (37 items) of the 65-item profile of mood states (POMS) were examined with a sample of 428 cancer patients who were awaiting bone marrow transplantation. Cronbach's alphas ranging from 0.78 to 0.91 were obtained for each of the six subscales of the POMS-short form (POMS-SF) and for the total 37-item scale. Correlations with the CES-D, the Self-Rated Karnofsky, the MOS SF-20 Physical Functioning, and the Bradburn Positive and Negative Affect Scales provided evidence of the convergent and discriminant validity of the POMS-SF. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis were supportive of the 6-factor interpretation of the POMS items in the 37-item version of the POMS.