Measuring symptoms in localized prostate cancer: a systematic review of assessment instruments
- Abstract:
- It is critical for prostate cancer researchers and clinicians to have access to comprehensive, sensitive and simple-to-use symptom measures that allow them to understand and quantify the subjective patient experience. The purpose of the current review is to provide a comprehensive review, detailed tool descriptions and objectively defined quality criteria to facilitate tool choices for patients with localized prostate cancer. Using a systematic web-based literature search, we found n=29 prostate symptom measures described in n=35 validation studies. To be recommended, tools needed to meet four criteria: broad domain coverage, ability to differentiate objective and subjective experience, good internal consistency and validation in at least two populations and/or having achieved two types of validations. Of the 29 tools reviewed, n=7 meet our criteria for recommendation, and three in particular (the EPIC-26 (Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite)-26, PC-QOL (Prostate Cancer-Quality of Life) and the UCLA-PCI (UCLA Prostate Cancer Index)) showed the strongest psychometrics. There is a reasonable number of measures to choose from that meet criteria for good psychometrics.
- DOI:
- 10.1038/pcan.2013.1
- URL:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23381695
- Journal:
- Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis
- issn:
- 1476-5608 (Electronic)
- Publication year:
- 2013
- pages:
- 111-22
- Symptom status:
- Physical state
- Age:
- Adults (18-65)
Children (0-18)
Seniors (65+) - Disease:
- Neoplasms and related symptoms
- PRO / non-PRO:
- Patient Reported Outcome
- Type of measurement instrument:
- 6 - Clinical rating scales