Development and validation of the functional assessment of chronic illness therapy treatment satisfaction (FACIT TS) measures.
OBJECTIVE
To develop and validate a new functional assessment of chronic illness therapy (FACIT) measure of satisfaction with treatment for chronic illnesses such as cancer and HIV/AIDS.


METHODS
To define domains and generate items, a literature review informed creation of semi-structured interview guides for patients and an international expert panel of clinicians and researchers. Patients and experts also rated 15 areas of satisfaction for relevance. The final list of items underwent further refinement by the original expert panel and a new group of clinical experts. Items were tested in four studies (primarily lung cancer) and data were pooled for analysis. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), and item response theory modeling were conducted to evaluate dimensionality. Internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability were both evaluated. Validity was evaluated by correlating the FACIT subscale scores and measures of comparable concepts and by testing the scales' ability to distinguish people according to their overall treatment satisfaction.


RESULTS
Two instruments were created: the FACIT TS-general (G), an overall evaluation of current treatment, and the FACIT TS-patient satisfaction (PS), a measure of patient satisfaction. CFA results were not optimal for a five-factor solution for PS. Internal consistency reliability met psychometric standards (≥0.70) for all PS subscales. Construct validity was established for the PS subscales: Physician Communication, Treatment Staff Communication, Technical Competence, Confidence and Trust, and Nurse Communication.


CONCLUSIONS
The two instruments generated here offer a new way to assess several key dimensions of patient satisfaction with treatment, especially for people with lung cancer.
Division of General Medical Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., Campus Box 8005, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
John D
JD
Peipert
Jennifer L
JL
Beaumont
Rita
R
Bode
Dave
D
Cella
Sofia F
SF
Garcia
Elizabeth A
EA
Hahn
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011361:Professional Competence; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000592:standards*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires