Translation and psychometric testing of Cancer Survivors' Unmet Needs, Chinese version

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study was to translate the Cancer Survivors' Unmet Needs (CaSUN) scale into Chinese, and then test its psychometric properties, for cancer survivors in Hong Kong.

Methods: The original questionnaire was translated from English into traditional Chinese (CaSUN-Chi), following standardized procedures. An expert panel was invited to assess the items' content validity, and pilot test on 15 patients to evaluate its readability. The sample for psychometric evaluation was drawn from a large multinational study assessing unmet needs of cancer survivors, with a convenience sample of 300 was recruited. Cronbach's α coefficient was used to assess the internal consistency of the scale, and confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate its construct validity.

Results: The CaSUN-Chi had good readability and high content validity (S-CVI 0.98). Cronbach's α for the entire scale was 0.93 and 0.71-0.91 for the five subscales. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the five-factor structure of the CaSUN-Chi was good fit to the data (CFI = 0.99, AGFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.054, SRMR = 0.071).

Conclusion: The CaSUN-Chi showed desirable psychometric properties for assessing unmet needs of cancer survivors in Hong Kong. Using the newly translated scale to identify individual supportive care unmet needs can bridge the gap between patients' experiences and expectations, and improve healthcare provision and resource allocation.

Keywords: Chinese; cancer survivors; psychometric validation; supportive care needs; unmet needs.