title: Measuring symptoms in localized prostate cancer: a systematic review of assessment instruments.
abstract: It is critical for prostate cancer researchers and clinicians to have access to comprehensive, sensitive and simple-to-use symptom measures that allow them to understand and quantify the subjective patient experience. The purpose of the current review is to provide a comprehensive review, detailed tool descriptions and objectively defined quality criteria to facilitate tool choices for patients with localized prostate cancer. Using a systematic web-based literature search, we found n=29 prostate symptom measures described in n=35 validation studies. To be recommended, tools needed to meet four criteria: broad domain coverage, ability to differentiate objective and subjective experience, good internal consistency and validation in at least two populations and/or having achieved two types of validations. Of the 29 tools reviewed, n=7 meet our criteria for recommendation, and three in particular (the EPIC-26 (Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite)-26, PC-QOL (Prostate Cancer-Quality of Life) and the UCLA-PCI (UCLA Prostate Cancer Index)) showed the strongest psychometrics. There is a reasonable number of measures to choose from that meet criteria for good psychometrics.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Rnic
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Linden
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Tudor
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Pullmer
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Vodermaier
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D057566:Self Report