Information needs of cancer patients: Validation of the Greek Cassileth's Information Styles Questionnaire

- The assessment of cancer patients' information needs has become an important outcome measure in clinical research.
- ISQ is a specific instrument designed for measuring information needs of cancer patients.
- Age, education level and the existence of metastasis do affect the patients' need of information regarding their disease.
- This is the first study to validate the Greek ISQ which allow international comparison of the results with other national studies.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to validate the translated in Greek Cassileth's Information Styles Questionnaire (ISQ).MethodsIt 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.ResultsSixty 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.ConclusionsThe results showed that the Greek ISQ is a reliable and valid tool for identifying the information needs of cancer patients.