title: The validity and utility of the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory in patients with prostate cancer: evidence from the Symptom Outcomes and Practice Patterns (SOAPP) data from the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI) is a psychometrically validated patient-reported outcome measure that assesses the severity and impact of multiple symptoms related to cancer and its treatment and has the potential to guide treatment specific to patients with prostate cancer. Although the original MDASI validation study encompassed various cancer types, the instrument's psychometric properties have not been examined in a large homogeneous sample of patients with prostate cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study involved secondary analysis of data from the nationwide multicenter Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) SOAPP (Symptom Outcomes and Practice Patterns) study, which enrolled patients from 38 ECOG-affiliated institutions, including 6 academic centers and 32 community clinics. Data were used to establish the psychometric properties of the MDASI in a subsample of 320 patients with prostate cancer. The instrument was administered twice, approximately 1 month apart.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The MDASI demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability (with Cronbach alphas of ≥ .84 and intraclass correlations of ≥ 0.76 for all subscales), strong ability to discriminate between clinically different patient groups (by performance status, tumor response, and disease stage), and high sensitivity in detecting symptom change (with respect to patient-reported quality of life [QOL] between the baseline and 1-month follow-up visits).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MDASI is a valid, reliable, and sensitive symptom-assessment instrument that can be used with confidence in descriptive and clinical studies of symptom status in patients with prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Symptom Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX. Electronic address: Djones1@mdanderson.org.
authors.forename: Desiree
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Fengmin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of General Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Fisch
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medical Social Sciences and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Lynne I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics and Global Health, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Linda J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Patrick-Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Symptom Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Charles S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Cleeland
authors.affiliation: Department of Symptom Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Tito R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Mendoza
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: ECOG; MDASI; Patient-reported outcome; Symptom assessment; Validation