Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Dec;7(4):630-40.
doi: 10.1007/s11764-013-0302-x. Epub 2013 Aug 6.

Health-related quality of life in young men with testicular cancer: validation of the Cancer Assessment for Young Adults (CAYA)

Affiliations

Health-related quality of life in young men with testicular cancer: validation of the Cancer Assessment for Young Adults (CAYA)

Michael A Hoyt et al. J Cancer Surviv. 2013 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Patient-reported outcome instruments are needed to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in young adults with cancer. The purpose of this project was to establish a conceptual model and measurement instrument for assessment of HRQOL in young men with testicular cancer.

Methods: Patient interviews and a literature review were used to develop a conceptual framework of biopsychosocial domains of cancer-related quality of life and an initial pool of questionnaire items. Items were piloted and refined. Revised items were administered to a sample (N = 171) of young (ages 18-29) men with testicular cancer and repeated 4 weeks later. Rasch measurement methods guided item reduction and scale construction. Traditional psychometric analyses were also performed to allow for comparison with existing measures.

Results: The conceptual framework included seven biopsychosocial domains: physical, sexual, intrapersonal, cognitive-emotional, social-relational, educational-vocational-avocational, and spiritual to form independent scales of the resulting questionnaire, the Cancer Assessment for Young Adults-Testicular (CAYA-T). Each scale fulfilled Rasch and traditional psychometric criteria (i.e., person separation index, 0.34-0.82; Cronbach's alpha, 0.70-0.91; and an expected pattern of convergent and discriminant validity correlations).

Conclusions: The CAYA-T can be used to assess HRQOL across a comprehensive set of domains as identified by young men with cancer. It passes strict psychometric criteria and has potential as a useful research and clinical tool.

Implications for cancer survivors: The CAYA-T has potential research and clinical value for addressing inter-related aspects of HRQOL in young adult men with cancer. The measure may assist with assessing and monitoring HRQOL across a range of domains and contributing to more comprehensive assessment of biopsychosocial needs of young adults.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no financial gain related to the outcome of this research, and there are no potential conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Arnett JJ. Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. Am Psychol. 2000;55:469–480. - PubMed
    1. Zebrack BJ. Psychological, social, and behavioral issues for young adults with cancer. Cancer. 2011;117:2289–2294. - PubMed
    1. ACS (American Cancer Society) Cancer Facts and Figures 2012. Atlanta, GA: American Cancer Society; 2012.
    1. Huang L, Cronin KA, Johnson KA, Mariotto AB, Feuer EJ. Improved survival time: what can survival cure models tell us about population-based survival improvements in late-stage colorectal, ovarian, and testicular cancer? Cancer. 2008;112:2289–2300. - PubMed
    1. Sonneveld DJ, Hoekstra HJ, van der Graaf WT, et al. Improved long term survival of patients with metastatic nonseminomatous testicular germ cell carcinoma in relation to prognostic classification systems during the cisplatin era. Cancer. 2001;91:1304–1315. - PubMed

Publication types