title: Reliability and responsiveness of a prostate cancer questionnaire for radiotherapy-induced side effects.
abstract: Few self-assessment cancer-specific questionnaires/modules have yet been developed for radiotherapy-induced side effects. The aim of the present study was to test the reliability and responsiveness of a prostate cancer (PC)-specific questionnaire. Thirty-one patients with PC graded their urinary and intestinal symptoms and their sexual function on the questionnaire. A doctor and a nurse performed a structured interview and graded the patient's symptoms with the same questions. The procedure was performed at both the start and the end of the treatment. A high concordance regarding symptom detection was seen between the patient, nurse and the doctor. The inter-rater test shows intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values above 0.60 in all scales. The internal reliability exceeded the lower limit (Cronbach a >0.70) for all scales. The test-retest gave acceptable reliability for all scales (ICC > or = 0.60). All scales indicated increased problems during radiotherapy. The questionnaire was proven to be valid for the evaluations of urinary and intestinal problems and for sexual function in PC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Umeå University, Sweden. Anders.Widmark@Onkologi.umu.se
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fransson
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tavelin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Widmark
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D011788:Quality of Life; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014555:Urination Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology