title: Information needs of cancer patients: Validation of the Greek Cassileth's Information Styles Questionnaire.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to validate the translated in Greek Cassileth's Information Styles Questionnaire (ISQ).
  
  
  METHODS
  It was a cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of one hundred and nine adult patients diagnosed with cancer, attending the oncology outpatient department (outpatients) or being hospitalized (inpatients), from January 2013 to September 2013, in one general hospital in Athens. Two instruments were used: The Control Preference Scale (CPS), an assessment tool to measure decision-making preferences of cancer patients and ISQ to assess the information needs of patients. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out to evaluate construct validity of the ISQ. The internal consistency of subscales was analyzed with Cronbach's alpha and the association of demographics and clinical variables with the ISQ was explored using linear regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty one (56%) patients were males. The mean age was 65.5 (SD = 11.9) years. Two dimensions of the ISQ were revealed. Cronbach's alpha was 0.92 for "Disease and treatment" dimension (12 of 17 items of the questionnaire) and 0.89 for "Psychological" dimension (5 of 17 items of the questionnaire). Statistical analysis showed that the patients' preferred decision making roles were associated with the ISQ dimensions. Also, age, sex, diagnosis, educational level and the existence of metastasis were associated with the score of "Disease and treatment" dimension. All the scales of ISQ, exceeded the minimum reliability standard of 0.70.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results showed that the Greek ISQ is a reliable and valid tool for identifying the information needs of cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: 2nd Internal Medicine Department, V.A. Hospital of Athens, Greece. Electronic address: despina_alamanou@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: G Despoina
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Alamanou
authors.affiliation: 2nd Internal Medicine Department, V.A. Hospital of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: A Sotirios
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Balokas
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: V Nikolaos
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Fotos
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Patiraki
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Hero
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brokalaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D007297:Inpatients / Q000193:education*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D057240:Patient Preference; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Cancer; Information needs; Oncology; Patient preferences; Questionnaire; Validation