The expectations of cancer treatment questionnaire and the experiences of cancer treatment questionnaire: Development and validation

Abstract

Patients’ expectations of cancer treatment could impact on their treatment experiences. Research in this area tends to focus on a particular aspect of expectations, and no suitable measure exists to explore patients’ expectations and experiences of treatment. The current study developed and validated two new, matched, measures: The Expectations of Cancer Treatment Questionnaire (EXPECT-CTQ) and the Experiences of Cancer Treatment (EXPER-CTQ). Items were generated using the previous expectations literature, alongside findings from qualitative interviews, and refined with assistance from cancer patients and a wider pool of researchers. A sample of 200 cancer patients completed the measures, and factor analysis was performed to validate the EXPECT-CTQ, resulting in a 39-item measure with subscales assessing treatment efficacy, physical side-effects, psychological side-effects, and the impact of treatment on daily life, social life and self-care. The EXPER-CTQ was matched to the EXPECT-CTQ, excluding the treatment efficacy subscale, resulting in a 36-item measure. Reliability analyses were conducted on both measures with good results (α > 0.6). Analyses of the expectations-experiences relationship encompassing a broad range of expectations showed that expectations are positively associated with experiences of cancer treatment. These two new measures are suitable for use in future research exploring both expectations and experiences of treatment for cancer and the implications of gaps between these constructs.