Background: The Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS) is one of the most comprehensive tools used in the clinical trials to measure the perceived unmet supportive care needs of cancer patients. The original 59-item instrument was developed and validated in English using rigorous methods. A short version containing 34 items was subsequently developed by the same authors (SCNS-SF34) and has since been translated into numerous other languages and validated, confirming its psychometrically robust properties. Cross-cultural validity is, in fact, important for international comparisons of self-reported measures. As an Italian form of the questionnaire does not exist at present, we decided to test the linguistic equivalence and cultural validity of a translated version of the SCNS-SF34 in a target population.
Methods: The adaptation process was performed in accordance with Beaton's guidelines by a dedicated research team in collaboration with patient representatives.
Results: The Italian questionnaire maintained the construct validity of the original version and was easy to understand and use.
Conclusions: Preliminary results indicate that the SCNS-SF34 is feasible in an Italian population. Further research is ongoing at our institute to assess its psychometric properties in a larger case series and in different care settings.
Keywords: Cancer patients; Needs assessment; Patient-reported outcome instruments; Supportive care; Translation and transcultural adaptation process; Unmet needs.