Assessment of fear of cancer recurrence in Spanish: Fear of Recurrence Questionnaire and he General Scale of Fear of Cancer Recurrence: A pilot study

Abstract

The objective of this study is the elaboration of a questionnaire for the evaluation of the fear of recurrence of cancer in Spanish. Method: A pilot study with a cross-sectional correlational design is presented, elaborated in two phases: 1) creation of the Fear Cancer recurrence Questionnaire (CMRC) and the General Scale of Fear of Cancer Recurrence (EGMRC); 2) evaluation of their psychometric properties. Results: for the elaboration of the questionnaires, the agreement between experts was used, measured by Aiken’s V. The CMRC questionnaire is finally configured with 8 items that are answered with a Likert-type scale of 0-4 and a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.851. The EGMRC consists of a single question that is answered with a scale of 0-100 correlates up to 0.84 with the CMRC. A sample of 50 female survivors of gynecological cancer selected from the Hospital Universitario Clínico San Carlos in Madrid was used. Both scales correlate with the level of anxiety of the patients and the emotional function of quality of life. No correlations with levels of depression were found. Conclusions: The CMRC and the EGMRC are two instruments that may be valid for the evaluation of FCR in Spanish for survivors of gynecological cancer.