Psychometric Validation of the Korean Version of the Cancer Survivors' Unmet Needs (CaSUN) Scale Among Korean Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Survivors

Danbee Kang ^1 2, Genehee Lee ^1 3, Sooyeon Kim ^1 2, Heesu Nam ^1 2, Sunga Kong ^1 3, Sungkeun Shim ⁴, Jae Kyung Lee ³, Wonyoung Jung ⁵, Sumin Shin ⁶, Hong Kwan Kim ⁶, Jae Ill Zo ⁶, Young Mog Shim ⁶, Dong Wook Shin ^1 4 5, Juhee Cho ^1 2 4

Affiliations expand

• PMID: 35209702
• DOI: 10.4143/crt.2021.1583

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to validate the Korean version of Cancer Survivors' Unmet Needs (CaSUN) scale among non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survivors.

Materials and methods: Participants were recruited from outpatient clinics at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, from January to October 2020. Participants completed a survey questionnaire that included the CaSUN. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA, CFA) and Pearson's correlations were used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the CaSUN-K. We also tested known-group validity using an independent t-test or ANOVA.

Results: In total, 949 provided informed consent and all of which completed the questionnaire. Among the 949 patients, 529 (55.7%) were male; the mean age and median time since the end of active treatment (SD) was 63.4 (8.7) years and the median was 18 months. Although the factor loadings were different from those for the original scale, the Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the 6 domains in the CaSUN-K ranged from 0.68 to 0.95, indicating satisfactory internal consistency. In the CFA, the goodness-of-fit indices for the CaSUN-K were high. Moderate correlations demonstrated the convergent validity of CaSUN-K with the relevant questionnaire. More than 60% of the participants reported information-related unmet needs, and the CaSUN-K discriminated between the needs reported by the different subgroups that we analyzed.

Conclusion: The CaSUN-K is a reliable and valid measure for assessing the unmet needs in a cancer population, thus this tool help population to receive timely, targeted, and relevant care.

Keywords: CaSUN; Cancer; Unmet needs; Validation.