Reliability testing of oxaliplatin-associated neurotoxicity questionnaire (OANQ), a pilot study

The purpose of this study was to test the reliability of the Swedish version of the Oxaliplatin-Associated Neurotoxicity Questionnaire (OANQ) administrated throughout a self-reported mobile phone-based system, a pilot study.

Twenty-three patients from two university hospitals and two regional hospitals who had been treated with oxaliplatin were included through purposive sampling between autumn 2013 to autumn 2014. A test-retest was performed through a mobile phone-based system, with a recall period of 1 h to determine the reliability of the questionnaire.

Internal consistency was strong for the three domains of the scale (α > 0.840). The statistical analyses for the test-retest indicated that the OANQ was stable. Intraclass correlation (ICC) for symptom items and effect on daily activities items showed an overall excellent reproducibility at 69 and 83 %, respectively. The weighted kappa for symptom items and daily activities items showed an overall almost perfect agreement at 59 and 52 %, respectively. A paired samples t test did not reveal any significant differences between the two measures.

The OANQ was tested and considered a reliable assessment for capturing the oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (OIPN) in patients receiving oxaliplatin. However, further reliability testing of the OANQ is needed.