Development and validation of the preparedness for Colorectal Cancer Surgery Questionnaire: PCSQ-pre 24

The aims of the study were to develop and psychometrically evaluate a patient-reported outcome instrument for the measurement of preoperative preparedness in patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer.

This study was conducted in two stages: a) instrument development (item generation, construction of items and domains), empirical verification and b) instrument evaluation. A questionnaire with 28 items measuring preparedness for surgery was developed covering four domains and was tested for content validity with an expert panel and with patients. Psychometric testing of the questionnaire was conducted on 240 patients undergoing elective surgery for colorectal cancer.

The scale content validity index of the preparedness items was 0.97. The final version consisted of 24 items measuring 4 subscales: Searching for and making use of information, Understanding and involvement in the care process, Making sense of the recovery process and Support and access to medical care. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed good model fit with standardized factor loadings ranging from 0.58 to 0.97. A well-fitting second-order factor model provided support for a total preparedness score with second-order factor loadings ranging from 0.75 to 0.93. The ordinal alpha values of the four latent factors ranged from 0.92 to 0.96, indicating good internal consistency. The polyserial correlations with the total score were 0.64 (p < 0.01) for the overall preparedness question and 0.37 (p < 0.01) for overall well-being.

The Swedish Preparedness for Colorectal Cancer Surgery Questionnaire for use in the preoperative phase demonstrated good psychometric properties based on a sound conceptualization of preparedness.