title: Fear of new or recurrent melanoma after treatment for localised melanoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the amount of fear of new or recurrent melanoma among people treated for localised melanoma in an Australian specialist centre.
  
  
  METHODS
  We randomly selected 400 potential participants from all those treated for localised melanoma at the Melanoma Institute Australia during 2014 (n = 902). They were asked to complete an adapted version of the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory (FCRI). We calculated summary statistics for demographics, clinical variables and total FCRI and subscale scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred fifteen people (54%) completed the FCRI questionnaire. The overall mean severity subscale score was 15.0 (95% CI 14.0-16.1). A high proportion of participants had scores above a proposed threshold to screen for clinical fear of cancer recurrence (77% and 63% of participants with and without new or recurrent melanoma had severity subscale scores ≥13). Most participants also had scores above a threshold found to have high specificity for clinical fear of cancer recurrence (65% and 48% of participants with and without new or recurrent melanoma had severity subscale scores ≥16). The severity subscale appeared to discriminate well between groups with differing levels of risk of new or recurrent melanoma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a substantial amount of fear of new or recurrent melanoma among this population, despite most having a very good prognosis.
authors.affiliation: The School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Center for Evidence Based Practice, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Katy J L
authors.initials: KJL
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Australia New Zealand Melanoma Trials Group, Melanoma Institute Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Yachna
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Robin M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Rachael L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.affiliation: The School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Mbathio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dieng
authors.affiliation: Melanoma Institute Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Discipline of Surgery, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Division of Surgery, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Robyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saw
authors.affiliation: Melanoma Institute Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Discipline of Dermatology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|The Sydney Melanoma Diagnostic Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guitera
authors.affiliation: The School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McCaffery
authors.affiliation: Cancer Voices NSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Low
authors.affiliation: Cancer Voices NSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Low
authors.affiliation: The School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.affiliation: The School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Les
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Irwig
authors.affiliation: The School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Angela C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Webster
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: cancer; fear; melanoma; oncology; recurrence; surveys and questionnaires