New Insights in Symptom Assessment: The Chinese Versions of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Short Form (MSAS-SF) and the Condensed MSAS (CMSAS)

Abstract

There are very few symptom assessment instruments in Chinese. We present the validity and reliability of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Short Form (MSAS-SF) and the Condensed Form MSAS (CMSAS) in Chinese cancer patients. The Chinese version of the 32-item MSAS-SF, a self-report measure for assessing symptom distress and frequency in cancer patients, was administered to 256 Chinese patients with colorectal cancer at a clinical oncology outpatient unit. Highly prevalent symptoms included worrying (59%), dry mouth (54%), lack of energy (54%), feeling sad (48%), feeling irritable (48%), and pain (41%). Both the MSAS-SF and CMSAS demonstrated good validity and reliability. For the MSAS-SF subscales, Cronbach alphas ranged from 0.84 to 0.91, and for CMSAS subscales, from 0.79 to 0.87. Moderate-to-high correlations of MSAS-SF and CMSAS subscales with appropriate European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 subscales (0.42-0.71, Ps<0.001) indicated acceptable convergent validity. Low correlations with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem and Optimism Scale (0.22, P<0.001) indicated divergent validity. MSAS subscales varied as expected with other Chinese scales--the Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ) and the Life Orientation Scale. Construct validity of both MSAS versions was demonstrated by effective differentiation between clinically distinct patient groups (Karnofsky scores <80% vs. > or =80% [P<0.001]; no active treatment vs. active treatment [P<0.002-0.034]; CHQ-12 scores < or =4 vs. CHQ-12 scores >4 [P<0.001]). The Number of Symptoms subscale correlated appropriately with the EORTC QLQ-C30 function (-0.46 to -0.60, P<0.001) and symptom scales (0.31-0.64, P<0.001). The average time to complete the MSAS-SF was six minutes. The Chinese versions of the MSAS-SF and CMSAS are valid and practical measures. Further validation is needed for Chinese patients with other cancer types and with other symptom instruments.

Trajectories of body image and sexuality during the first year following diagnosis of breast cancer and their relationship to 6 years psychosocial outcomes

“…The CLOT-R is a Hong Kong Chinese population-adapted and validated equivalent of the original LOT-R [22] and has been previously used in this cancer population [19,23]. General self-efficacy was measured by the 10-item Chinese version of Generalized Self-efficacy scale (GSeS) (a = 0.90) [24].…”

“…The CHQ-12 is based on Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire [26] adapted for the slightly different presentation of distress among Chinese and is a validated screening tool for psychological distress in Chinese nonpsychiatric populations [25]. The CHQ-12 has been used in previous cancer studies [19,23]. Higher scores reflect greater psychological distress.…”

Systematic review recommends the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer colorectal cancer–specific module for measuring quality of life in colorectal cancer patients

“…All ratings given to the nine instruments that were assessed on this property (version 3 of QLQ-C30 [27,29,30,65,66], QLQ-SWB36 [53], QLQ-CR38 [21e27], QLQ-CR29 [31,54], FACT-C [23,27,33,34,55,59e61], MSAS-SF [56], CMSAS [56], SRQS [57], and MSKCC Bowel Function [40,41]) were unknown as inadequate information was provided by these studies.…”

Unmet supportive care needs: a cross-cultural comparison between Hong Kong Chinese and German Caucasian women with breast cancer

“…The presence or absence (''symptom burden'') of 17 common physical and psychological symptoms was measured in the German studies. We therefore extracted an identical set of the same 17 items from the Chinese version of the 32-item Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Short-Form (MSAS-SF) [40] used to assess symptom burden in the Hong Kong sample. Hence, these same 17 symptoms common to both samples were used to compare symptom burden between samples based on the total symptom number present at interview.…”