Development and validation of the PCQ: A questionnaire to measure the psychological consequences of screening mammography

https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(92)90286-YGet rights and content

Abstract

We have developed a reliable and valid questionnaire to measure the psychological consequences of screening mammography. The questionnaire measures the effect of screening on an individual's functioning on emotional, social, and physical life domains. Content validity was ensured by extensive review of the relevant literature, discussion with professionals and interviews with attenders at a pilot Breast X-ray Screening Program in Melbourne, Australia. Discriminant validity was assessed by having expert judges sort items into dimensions which they appeared to be measuring. Acceptable levels of concordance (above 80%) with a priori classifications were found. Concurrent validity was demonstrated by comparison of subscale scores of 53 attenders at the Breast X-ray Program with an independent interview assessment of dysfunction on each of the emotional, social and physical dimensions. There was over 79% agreement between interview scores and questionnaire scores for each dimension. Construct validity was confirmed by showing that subscale scores varied in predicted ways. For women who were recalled for further investigation, scores on each subscale measuring negative consequences, were higher at the recall clinic that at screening clinic (emotional: t=-7.28; df=70; P<0.001; physical: t=-2.53; df=70; P=0.014; social: t=-2.49; df=70; P=0.015). The internal consistency of all subscales was found to be acceptable. This questionnaire is potentially useful for assessing the psychological consequences of the screening process and should have wide application.

References (19)

  • L. Tabar et al.

    Reduction in mortality from breast cancer after mass screening with mammography

    Lancet

    (1985)
  • L. Irwig et al.

    Womens' perceptions of screening mammography

    Aust. J. Publ. Hlth

    (1991)
  • S. Shapiro et al.

    Selection follow-up and analysis in the health insurance plan study: a randomised trial with breast cancer screening

    Natn. Cancer Inst. Monogr.

    (1985)
  • M.M. Roberts

    Breast screening: time for a rethink

    Br. Med. J.

    (1989)
  • T.M. Martaeu

    Psychological costs of screening

    Br. Med. J.

    (1989)
  • R. Ellman et al.

    Psychiatric morbidity associated with screening for breast cancer

    Br. J. Cancer

    (1989)
  • C. Dean et al.

    Psychiatric morbidity after screening for breast cancer

    J. Epidem. Community Hlth

    (1986)
  • D. Goldberg

    Manual for the General Health questionnaire

    (1978)
  • I.T. Gram et al.

    Quality of life after a false positive mammogram

    Br. J. Cancer

    (1990)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (96)

  • Moderators of the effects of perceived racism and discrimination on cancer-related health behaviors among two samples of African Americans

    2023, Social Science and Medicine
    Citation Excerpt :

    Women indicated responses for obtaining work, wages/pay, obtaining loans or credit, health care, and obtaining health insurance on a scale from 1 (never) to 5 (all the time). Psychological Consequences of Density Notification were assessed with an adapted measure of psychological consequences of mammogram (Cockburn et al., 1992). Women indicated whether they had experienced 10 positive (e.g., “feeling more relaxed”, “been sleeping better”) and 12 negative (e.g., “been scared or panicky”, “felt under strain”) symptoms “because of thoughts and feelings about your breast density” on a scale from 1 (“Not at all”) to 4 (“Quite a lot of the time”).

  • A systematic review to identify anxiety measures for use in populations undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm screening

    2021, Journal of Vascular Nursing
    Citation Excerpt :

    Additionally, assessment of internal consistency, construct validity and responsiveness (hypothesis testing) were conducted across these six papers, though our assessment concluded that the papers by Swanson14 and Shermann13 did not report any usable data. Post development evaluation of PCQ measurement properties contrast with the original description of the PCQ10 as a two section PROM (positive and negative consequences), with three subscales (physical, emotional and social). Cooper et al,11 Ong et al12 and Molina et al15 all focus on the negative consequences section of the PCQ and do not evaluate the positive consequences section at all.

View all citing articles on Scopus

Present address: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

View full text