Development and initial psychometric evaluation of a COVID-related psychosocial experiences questionnaire for cancer survivors

Estefany Saez-Clarke¹, Amy K Otto^{2

3

4}, Sarah Prinsloo^{5

6}, Akina Natori⁷, Richard W Wagner⁵, Telma I Gomez^{5

8}, Jewel M Ochoa⁵, Shelley S Tworoger⁹, Cornelia M Ulrich¹⁰, Cassandra A Hathaway⁹, Anita R Peoples¹⁰, Michael H Antoni^{1

11

4}, Julienne E Bower^{12

13}, Lorenzo Cohen^#¹⁴, Frank J Penedo^#^{15

16

17}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.
² Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
³ University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus, Duluth, MN, USA.
⁴ Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
⁵ Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
⁶ Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
⁷ Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics Hematology-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
⁹ Department of Cancer Epidemiology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Population Health Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
¹² Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹³ Department of Psychiatry/Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. lcohen@mdanderson.org.
¹⁵ Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA. frank.penedo@miami.edu.
¹⁶ Department of Medicine, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA. frank.penedo@miami.edu.
¹⁷ Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA. frank.penedo@miami.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 37358738
PMCID: PMC11817160
DOI: 10.1007/s11136-023-03456-4

Development and initial psychometric evaluation of a COVID-related psychosocial experiences questionnaire for cancer survivors

Estefany Saez-Clarke et al. Qual Life Res. 2023 Dec.

. 2023 Dec;32(12):3475-3494.

doi: 10.1007/s11136-023-03456-4. Epub 2023 Jun 26.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.
² Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
³ University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus, Duluth, MN, USA.
⁴ Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
⁵ Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
⁶ Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
⁷ Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics Hematology-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
⁹ Department of Cancer Epidemiology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Population Health Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
¹² Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹³ Department of Psychiatry/Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. lcohen@mdanderson.org.
¹⁵ Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA. frank.penedo@miami.edu.
¹⁶ Department of Medicine, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA. frank.penedo@miami.edu.
¹⁷ Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA. frank.penedo@miami.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 37358738
PMCID: PMC11817160
DOI: 10.1007/s11136-023-03456-4

Abstract

Background: Cancer survivors are at elevated risk of psychological problems related to COVID-19, yet no published measure adequately assesses their psychosocial experiences during the pandemic.

Purpose: Describe the development and factor structure of a comprehensive, self-report measure (COVID-19 Practical and Psychosocial Experiences questionnaire [COVID-PPE]) assessing the pandemic's impact on US cancer survivors.

Methods: The sample (n = 10,584) was divided into three groups to assess COVID-PPE factor structure by conducting: (1) initial calibration/exploratory analysis of the factor structure of 37 items (n = 5070), (2) confirmatory factor analysis of the best-fitting model (36 items after item removal; n = 5140), and (3) post-hoc confirmatory analysis with an additional six items not collected in the first two groups (42 items; n = 374).

Results: The final COVID-PPE was divided into two sets of subscales, conceptualized as Risk Factors and Protective Factors. The five Risk Factors subscales were labeled Anxiety Symptoms, Depression Symptoms, Health Care Disruptions, Disruptions to Daily Activities and Social Interactions, and Financial Hardship. The four Protective Factors subscales were labeled Perceived Benefits, Provider Satisfaction, Perceived Stress Management Skills, and Social Support. Internal consistency was acceptable for seven subscales (αs = 0.726-0.895; ωs = 0.802-0.895) but poor or questionable for the remaining two subscales (αs = 0.599-0.681; ωs = 0.586-0.692).

Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first published self-report measure comprehensively capturing psychosocial impact-both positive and negative-of the pandemic on cancer survivors. Future work should evaluate predictive utility of COVID-PPE subscales, particularly as the pandemic evolves, which may inform recommendations for cancer survivors and facilitate identification of survivors most in need of intervention.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cancer survivors; Factor analysis; Functioning; Psychometrics; Psychosocial; Quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare that they have no potential or actual conflicts of interest pertaining to this study.

References

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Development and initial psychometric evaluation of a COVID-related psychosocial experiences questionnaire for cancer survivors

Affiliations

Development and initial psychometric evaluation of a COVID-related psychosocial experiences questionnaire for cancer survivors

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical