Assessment of body image in patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer.
OBJECTIVE
This study tested the scale properties and validity of the ten-item body image scale (BIS) in patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC).


METHODS
Patients completed the BIS and a validated measure of health-related quality of life (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30) after open or laparoscopic resection. A sample of the patients had also previously completed questionnaires before and after surgery. Multi-trait scaling and factor analysis were used to examine the questionnaire scaling, and tests of reliability, clinical and construct validity were performed.


RESULTS
Eighty-two patients (48 male, 59 open, 23 laparoscopic) participated. Scaling analyses suggested a nine-item scale and one single item. This revised scale structure demonstrated good test-retest reliability (r = 0.94) and no overlap with the key domains of the EORTC QLQ-C30 (r < 0.40). Patients with a stoma reported significantly poorer BIS scores than those undergoing simple resection (p = 0.005).


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides psychometric and clinical evidence for a revised scale structure for the BIS in CRC, and the questionnaire is suitable to assess body image in CRC clinical trials.
Whistance
Robert N
RN
Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. robert.whistance@hotmail.co.uk
Gilbert
Rebecca
R
Fayers
Peter
P
Longman
Robert J
RJ
Pullyblank
Anne
A
Thomas
Michael
M
Blazeby
Jane M
JM
D000368:Aged; D001828:Body Image; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires