Discrimination between worry and anxiety among cancer patients: development of a Brief Cancer-Related Worry Inventory.
OBJECTIVE
A psychometric scale for assessing cancer-related worry among cancer patients, called the Brief Cancer-Related Worry Inventory (BCWI), was developed.


METHODS
A cross-sectional questionnaire survey for item development was conducted of 112 Japanese patients diagnosed with breast cancer, and test-retest validation analysis was conducted using the data from another prospective study of 20 lung cancer patients. The questionnaire contained 15 newly developed items for cancer-related worry, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, The Impact of Event Scale Revised, and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-8.


RESULTS
Exploratory factor analysis of the 15 items yielded a 3-factor structure including (1) future prospects, (2) physical and symptomatic problems and (3) social and interpersonal problems. A second-order confirmatory factor analysis identified a second-order factor called cancer-related worry and confirmed the factor structure with an acceptable fit (chi-square (df=87)=160.16, P=0.001; GFI=0.83; CFI=0.92; RMSEA=0.09). The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were confirmed with the lung cancer sample. Multidimensional scaling found that cancer-related worry is separate from anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study succeeded in developing and confirming the validity and reliability of a BCWI. The study also confirmed the discriminable aspects of cancer-related worry from anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms.
Hirai
Kei
K
Center for the Study of Communication Design, Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. khirai@grappo.jp
Shiozaki
Mariko
M
Motooka
Hiroko
H
Arai
Hirokazu
H
Koyama
Atsuko
A
Inui
Hiroki
H
Uchitomi
Yosuke
Y
D000339:Affect; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D044466:Asian People; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires