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
. 2019 Sep 10;19(1):904.
doi: 10.1186/s12885-019-6113-3.

Development and validation of the comprehensive assessment scale for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in survivors of cancer

K Kanda  1 , K Fujimoto  2 , R Mochizuki  3 , K Ishida  4 , B Lee  5
Affiliations

Development and validation of the comprehensive assessment scale for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in survivors of cancer

K Kanda et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Appropriate assessment is essential for the management of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), an intractable symptom that cannot yet be palliated, which is high on the list of causes of distress for cancer patients. However, objective assessment by medical staff makes it easy to underestimate the symptoms and effects of CIPN in cancer survivors. As a result, divergence from subjective evaluation of cancer survivors is a significant problem. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a subjective scale with high accuracy and applicability that reflects the experiences of cancer patients. We developed a comprehensive assessment scale for CIPN in cancer survivors, named the Comprehensive Assessment Scale for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Survivors of Cancer (CAS-CIPN), and demonstrated its reliability and validity.

Methods: We developed a questionnaire based on qualitative studies of peripheral neuropathy in Japanese cancer patients and literature review. Twelve cancer experts confirmed the content validity of the questionnaire. A draft version comprising 40 items was finalized by a pilot test on 100 subjects. The participants in the present study were 327 Japanese cancer survivors. Construct validity was determined by factor analysis, and internal validity by confirmation factor analysis and Cronbach's α.

Results: Factor analysis showed that the structure consisted of 15 items in four dimensions: "Threatened interference in daily life by negative feelings", "Impaired hand fine motor skills", "Confidence in choice of treatment/management," and "Dysesthesia of the palms and soles." The CAS-CIPN internal consistency reliability was 0.826, and the reliability coefficient calculated using the Spearman-Brown formula [q = 2r/(1 + r)] was 0.713, confirming high internal consistency and stability. Scores on this scale were strongly correlated with Gynecologic Oncology Group-Neurotoxicity scores (r = 0.714, p < 0.01), confirming its criterion-related validity.

Conclusions: The CAS-CIPN is an assessment tool with high reliability and validity for the comprehensive evaluation of CIPN in cancer survivors. The CAS-CIPN is simple to use, and can be used by medical professionals for appropriate situational assessment and intervention.

Keywords: CIPN; Cancer survivors; Comprehensive assessment; Measurement; PRO; QOL; Scale; Symptom.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Model of the development of the comprehensive assessment scale for peripheral neuropathy in cancer survivors. CCRS: Chemotherapy Concerns Rating Scale, QOL: Quality of life, GOG NTx: Gynecologic Oncology Group-Neurotoxicity, FACT-G: Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The relationship patient-reported CAS-CIPN and nurse- reported CTCAE (Peripheral sensory neuropathy). **Significant difference between groups (p < 0.01). CAS-CIPN: Comprehensive Assessment Scale for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Survivors of Cancer; CTCAE: Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Katanoda K, Kamo K, Saika K, Matsuda T, Shibata A, Matsuda A, et al. Short-term projection of cancer incidence in Japan using an age–period interaction model with spline smoothing. Jpn J Clin Oncol. 2014;44:36–41. doi: 10.1093/jjco/hyt163. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Center for Cancer Control and Information Services, In: Cancer Information Service ganjoho.jp. Projected cancer incidence in 2018. National Cancer Center. https://ganjoho.jp/en/public/statistics/short_pred.html. Accessed 25 Sept 2018.
    1. Yamagishi A, Morita T, Miyashita M, Kimura F. Symptom prevalence and longitudinal follow-up in cancer outpatients receiving chemotherapy. J Pain Symptom Manag. 2009;37:823–830. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2008.04.015. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Park SB, Goldstein D, Krishnan AV, Lin CS, Friedlander ML, Cassidy J, et al. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity: a critical analysis. CA Cancer J Clin. 2013;63:419–437. doi: 10.3322/caac.21204. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bakitas MA. Background noise: the experience of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Nurs Res. 2007;56:323–331. doi: 10.1097/01.NNR.0000289503.22414.79. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Substances