Salivary, lacrimal and nasal (SALANS) measure to assess side effects following radioactive iodine treatment:...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Patient-Reported Outcomes
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) treatment often involves radioactive iodine (RAI).
• RAI therapy can lead to various patient symptoms affecting quality of life.
• Existing measures may not comprehensively capture these specific post-RAI symptoms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and psychometrically evaluate the SAlivary, LAcrimal, NaSal (SALANS) patient-reported outcome measure (PROM).
• To document symptoms experienced by patients following radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment for differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).

Main Methods:

• Iterative item generation involving expert input, focus groups, and cognitive testing.
• Administration of a 39-item SALANS measure to 105 DTC patients treated within two years.
• Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for structure, reliability assessment, and validity testing against existing PROMs.

Main Results:

• The final 33-item SALANS measure comprises six subscales: sialadenitis, taste, xerostomia, dry eyes, epiphora, and nasal.
• High internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha range: 0.87-0.92) was demonstrated for the subscales.
• The SALANS total score showed good convergent and discriminant validity, and was significantly higher in patients who received RAI.

Conclusions:

• Preliminary evidence supports SALANS as a novel and reliable PROM for assessing post-RAI treatment symptoms in DTC patients.
• The SALANS measure captures the type and frequency of symptoms effectively.
• Further validation and development of the SALANS scale are warranted.