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Needs of caregivers of cancer patients: validation of the Mexican version of the Support Person Unmet Needs Survey (SPUNS–SFM)

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to validate the Mexican version of the Support Person Unmet Needs Survey (SPUNS–SFM).

Methods

A cross-sectional survey that included 826 primary caregivers of cancer patients was conducted from June to December 2013 at the Oncology Hospital of the Mexican Institute of Social Security in Mexico City. The validation procedure comprised (1) content validity through a group of experts; (2) construct validity through an exploratory factor analysis based on the polychoric correlation matrix; (3) internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha; (4) convergent validity between SPUNS–SFM and quality of life, anxiety-and-depression scales by calculating Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient;( 5) discriminative validity through the Wilcoxon rank-sum test; and (6) test-retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficient.

Results

SPUNS–SFM has 23 items with six factors accounting for 65 % of the total variance. The domains were concerns about the future, access and continuity of healthcare, information, work and finance, and personal and emotional needs. Cronbach’s alpha values ranged from 0.70 to 0.88 among factors. SPUNS–SFM had moderate convergent validity compared with quality of life and depression-and-anxiety scales and good discriminative validity, revealing high needs for younger caregivers and more emotional needs for caregivers of patients with advanced cancer stages. Intraclass correlation coefficient between SPUNS–SFM measurements was 0.78.

Conclusion

SPUNS–SFM is a valid and reliable tool to identify needs of caregivers of cancer patients.

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Funding

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests. The authors declare that they have full control of all primary data and agree to allow the journal to review the data if requested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology and Health Services Research Unit, CMN Siglo XXI, Mexican Institute of Social Security, Av. Cuauhtemoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtemoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico

    Svetlana V. Doubova & Ingrid Martinez-Vega

  2. Departamento de Farmacología de la Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City, Mexico

    Rebeca Aguirre-Hernandez

  3. Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City, Mexico

    Claudia Infante-Castañeda

  4. Division of Social Protection and Health, Inter-American Development Bank, México City, Mexico

    Ricardo Pérez-Cuevas

Authors
  1. Svetlana V. Doubova
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  2. Rebeca Aguirre-Hernandez
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  3. Claudia Infante-Castañeda
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  4. Ingrid Martinez-Vega
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  5. Ricardo Pérez-Cuevas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Svetlana V. Doubova.

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Doubova, S.V., Aguirre-Hernandez, R., Infante-Castañeda, C. et al. Needs of caregivers of cancer patients: validation of the Mexican version of the Support Person Unmet Needs Survey (SPUNS–SFM). Support Care Cancer 23, 2925–2935 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2658-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2658-0

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