The validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Cancer-chemotherapy Concerns Rating Scale.

Objective: The Cancer-chemotherapy Concerns Rating Scale was developed in Japan for outpatients undergoing chemotherapy, and its validity and reliability have been reported. The purpose of the study was to test the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Cancer-chemotherapy Concerns Rating Scale.

Methods: The questionnaire was filled out by 199 cancer patients, who were currently undergoing outpatient chemotherapy. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis with Promax Rotation to determine the factor construct validity. The reliability of the Cancer-chemotherapy Concerns Rating Scale was investigated by Cronbach's alpha and the Spearman Brown coefficient.

Results: Four factors were obtained and the overall structure was similar to that of the Japanese version; reorganization of daily life, self-existence, disease progress, and social and economic concerns. Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was 0.91 and the Spearman Brown coefficient was 0.85.

Conclusions: We found that the Korean version of the Cancer-chemotherapy Concerns Rating Scale could be clinically useful. It could provide health-care providers with information useful to understand the psychological state of patients undergoing outpatient chemotherapy.