Greek M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory: validation and utility in cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE
The M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI) is a brief assessment of the severity and impact of cancer-related symptoms. The purpose of this study was the translation and validation of the questionnaire in Greek (G-MDASI).


METHODS
The translation and validation of the assessment took place at a Pain Relief and Palliative Care Unit. The final validation sample included 150 cancer patients (61 males, 89 females, age range 31-88 years, mean age 63.32). The patients completed the questionnaires at the outpatient clinic. Assessing the validity and reliability constituted the actual validation of the G-MDASI.


RESULTS
The item 'diarrhea' had a score of 0 in 139 patients and, thus was omitted from the 'core' list. Consequently, the core questionnaire consisted of 14 items. Factor analysis resulted in a 3-factor model, in both validation and cross-validation samples. The examination of the sensitivity of the MDASI revealed that there were differences between patients with poor-to-good performance status but no differences were found between patients in different treatment groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The results showed that the G-MDASI is a reliable and valid measure in Greek cancer patients. It has proved to be a comprehensive symptom assessment tool.
Mystakidou
Kyriaki
K
Pain Relief and Palliative Care Unit, Department of Radiology, University of Athens, Areteion Hospital, Athens, Greece. mistakidou@yahoo.com
Cleeland
Charles
C
Tsilika
Eleni
E
Katsouda
Emmanuela
E
Primikiri
Aphrodite
A
Parpa
Efi
E
Vlahos
Lambros
L
Mendoza
Tito
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States