title: Development and validation of a psychosocial screening instrument for cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We are reporting on the development of a psychosocial screening tool for cancer patients. The tool was to be brief, at a relatively low reading level, capture psychological variables relevant to distress and health-related quality-of-life in cancer patients, possess good reliability and validity, and be free of copyright protection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Item derivation is described, data on reliability and validity as well as norms are reported for three samples of cancer patients (n = 1057; n = 570, n = 101).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The resulting 21-item psychological screen for cancer (PSCAN) assesses perceived social support, desired social support, health-related quality-of-life, anxiety and depression. It has good psychometrics including high internal consistency (alpha averaging .83, and acceptable test-retest stability over 2 months (averaging r = .64). Validity has been established for content, construct and concurrent validity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PSCAN is considered ready for use as a screening tool and also for following changes in patient distress throughout the cancer care trajectory. It is freely available to all interested non-profit users.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, The University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Psychology/UBC, Vancouver BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada. wlinden@psych.ubc.ca
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Linden
authors.forename: Dahyun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Barroetavena
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: MacKenzie
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Doll
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety; D001955:British Columbia; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires