Validation of FACT/GOG-AD subscale for ovarian cancer-related abdominal discomfort: a Gynecologic Oncology Group study.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy/Gynecologic Oncology Group-Abdominal Discomfort (FACT/GOG-AD) subscale for assessing abdominal discomfort in patients undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer.


METHODS
A four-item questionnaire was developed for use in Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) protocol 172. It was administered to patients with advanced ovarian cancer treated on this protocol with intravenous (IV) cisplatin/paclitaxel or a combination of intravenous and intraperitoneal (IP) cisplatin/paclitaxel (IV/IP) prior to randomization, before cycle 4, 3-6 weeks after cycle 6, and 12 months after cycle 6. The subscale was evaluated in patients receiving IV/IP therapy for internal consistency, concurrent validity, sensitivity to treatment differences, and responsiveness to abdominal discomfort grading.


RESULTS
Internal consistency coefficients were 0.83 and 0.87 at baseline and pre-cycle 4 assessments, respectively; the average inter-item correlation was 0.61 at the pre-cycle 4 assessment. Item correlation with other scales ranged from 0.00-0.44. This subscale was able to distinguish those graded to have physician-rated abdominal pain compared to those without clinician-reported discomfort.


CONCLUSIONS
The four-item AD subscale reliably and validly assesses ovarian cancer-specific abdominal discomfort, and captures abdominal symptom responses to IV and IV/IP cisplatin/paclitaxel treatments.
Wenzel
Lari
L
University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. LWenzel@uci.edu
Huang
Helen Q
HQ
Cella
David
D
Walker
Joan L
JL
Armstrong
Deborah K
DK
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use* / Q000633:toxicity; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D017239:Paclitaxel; D002945:Cisplatin