Construction and validation of an instrument to assess the comfort of adolescents undergoing chemotherapy

Abstract

Objective: To build and validate a self-report instrument to assess the comfort of adolescents with cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: This methodological study was developed in five stages: scoping review; qualitative study to characterize comfort from the perspective of adolescents with cancer undergoing chemotherapy; instrument construction; instrument content validation by experts; pre-test with a group of adolescents. Results: In the scoping review, 20 comfort changes were identified; regarding the perspective of comfort for adolescents, it was possible to identify the effects on their daily lives and the impact on chemotherapy; in content validation, the index was 0.96 and Cronbach’s Alpha 0.87. In the pre-test, the instrument obtained the final version with 37 items and Cronbach’s Alpha 0.94. Conclusions: The constructed and validated self-report instrument showed good reliability related to satisfactory psychometric parameters and can be used by nurses in clinical practice to assess and evidence comfort changes.