Psychometric properties of an Australian Supportive Care Needs Assessment Tool for Indigenous People (SCNAT-IP) with cancer — ASN Events
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  3. Psychometric properties of an Australian Supportive Care Needs Assessment Tool for Indigenous People (SCNAT-IP) with cancer

Psychometric properties of an Australian Supportive Care Needs Assessment Tool for Indigenous People (SCNAT-IP) with cancer (#358)

Gail Garvey 1 , Vanessa L Beesley 2 3 , Monika Janda 3 , Peter O'Rourke 4 , Vincent YF He 1 , Anna L Hawkes 3 , Jacinta Elston 5 6 , Adele C Green 7 8 , Joan Cunningham 1 , Patricia C Valery 1
  1. Menzies School of Health Research, Spring Hill, Qld, Australia
  2. Gynaecological Cancers Group, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
  3. School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology , Brisbane, Qld, Australia
  4. Statistics Unit, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
  5. Faculty of Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld, Australia
  6. Faculty of Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld, Australia
  7. Cancer and Population Studies Group, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
  8. Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute and University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

Aims. There are significant disparities in cancer outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Identifying the unmet supportive care needs of Indigenous Australians with cancer is imperative to improve their cancer care.  The purpose of this study was to test the psychometric properties of a supportive care needs assessment tool for Indigenous Australian people (SCNAT-IP) with cancer.

Methods. The SCNAT-IP was administered to 248 Indigenous Australian patients diagnosed with a range of cancer types and stages and all were receiving treatment in one of four Queensland hospitals. All original 39 items of the SCNAT-IP were assessed for ceiling and floor effects and analysed using exploratory factor analysis to determine construct validity. Identified factors were assessed for internal consistency and convergent validity to validated psychosocial tools.

Results. The SCNAT-IP retained 26 items in four factors (physical and psychological, hospital care, information and communication, and practical and cultural needs). This model was deemed the most clinically meaningful and accounted for 51% of the total variance. Internal consistency of the factors was good with Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficients ranging from 0.70-0.89. The SCNAT-IP showed a moderately strong positive correlation with the Distress Thermometer (r=0.60, p<0.001), The Cancer Worry Chart (r=0.58, p<0.001) and a moderately strong negative correlation with quality of life (AQoL-4D) (r=-0.56, p<0.001).

Conclusion. The SCNAT-IP is a valid and reliable measure of multiple supportive care need domains specific to Indigenous Australian cancer patients and could be used in routine cancer care. 

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