title: Illness uncertainty in breast cancer patients: validation of the 5-item short form of the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Several studies have shown that uncertainty about disease and fear of disease progression affects psychosocial adjustment and quality of life. The purpose of this study was to validate a Norwegian short version of the "The Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale" (SF-MUIS) and to examine the impact of uncertainty in illness in breast cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  209 patients in breast cancer treatment completed questionnaires for SF-MUIS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-ES), and eight questions concerning quality of the patient information provided (IQP). Relationship between scores on uncertainty in illness and anxiety, depression, social support, emotional well-being, the quality of patient information provided, and age were studied by multiple regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ordinal coefficient alpha for the Norwegian version of SF-MUIS was 0.70. Scores on SF-MUIS correlated significantly with scores on HADS (P = 0.001), FACT-ES (P = 0.001), and IQP (P = 0.001) indicating good convergent validity. The patients reported a moderate degree of uncertainty in illness. However, those who had been diagnosed with breast cancer for a year, reported higher scores than those newly diagnosed (P=<0.0001). Information provided was the sole significant predictor of illness uncertainty (P=<0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the present study confirm that the Norwegian version of the SF-MUIS is a suitable tool for assessment of uncertainty in breast cancer patients, who reported a moderate degree of uncertainty in illness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway. Electronic address: kari.britt.hagen@helse-bergen.no.
authors.forename: Kari Britt
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Hagen
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Turid
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aas
authors.affiliation: Research Department, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lode
authors.affiliation: Hormone Laboratory, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gjerde
authors.affiliation: Hormone Laboratory, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lien
authors.affiliation: Research Department, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway; Department of Mathematics and Natural Science, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.
authors.forename: Jan Terje
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Kvaløy
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Lash
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Section for Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.
authors.forename: Håvard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Søiland
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Ragna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lind
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D000066498:Emotional Adjustment; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035501:Uncertainty
keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Information; Operable breast cancer; Social support; Uncertainty in illness