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A Chinese version of the chemotherapy-induced alopecia distress scale based on reliability and validity assessment in breast cancer patients

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Abstract

Purpose

Chemotherapy-induced alopecia is a common and emotionally traumatic side effect on breast cancer patients. In order to make up for the deficiency of measuring tools in China, our study aims at translating the chemotherapy-induced alopecia distress scale (CADS) into Chinese and evaluating the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of CADS (CADS-C) in breast cancer patients.

Methods

The validity and reliability of CADS-C were measured by a questionnaire survey among 301 breast cancer patients from Chinese mainland. Construct validity was assessed through factor analysis and contrasted group comparisons. The validity of the content was examined by an experts group. The internal consistency and test–retest reliability were evaluated by calculating Cronbach’s alpha and the intraclass correlation coefficient.

Results

The content validity index was 0.94; a structure with three factors was revealed by exploratory factor analysis which explained 65.40% of the variance and proved by confirmatory factor analysis. The contrasted group comparisons showed significant differences among different degrees of alopecia. The average variance extracted and composite reliability and correlations between CADS and body image, quality of life and self-esteem proved the convergent validity. The Cronbach’s alpha and the intraclass correlation coefficient of the total scale were 0.90 and 0.89 respectively, indicating satisfactory internal consistency and time stability.

Conclusion

The scale appears to be a reliable and valid tool to measure chemotherapy-induced alopecia distress among breast cancer patients in China.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate all the participants who volunteered to take part in this study.

Contributions

Study design: WeiLian Cong and ChunLan Zhou, data collection: LiPing Liu and MingYu Hu, data analysis: WeiLian Cong and YanNi Wu, manuscript preparation: WeiLian Cong and ChunLan Zhou and final approval: all authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nursing, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, NO. 1838 Guangzhou Avenue North, Guangzhou, 510515, China

    WeiLian Cong, YanNi Wu, LiPing Liu, MingYu Hu & ChunLan Zhou

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  1. WeiLian Cong
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Correspondence to ChunLan Zhou.

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All of the participants signed informed consent after being provided related information about the study both in written and verbal. Ethical approval was gained from the ethics committee of the hospital. According to the Helsinki Declaration, prior to obtaining signed informed consent, participants were informed that the participation was anonymous and voluntary; all of the data obtained would be only used for research purposes.

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Cong, W., Wu, Y., Liu, L. et al. A Chinese version of the chemotherapy-induced alopecia distress scale based on reliability and validity assessment in breast cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 28, 4327–4336 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-05284-0

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