Developing Stress Assessment forms for Thai Cancer Patients: The Thai Version of the Modified Symptoms of Stress Inventory (Modified SOSI)

Abstract

Background: Cancer is a progressive illness that often has a prolonged treatment time and that severely impacts a person’s quality of life. In Thailand, approximately 113,000 new cancer patients are diagnosed each year. Furthermore, cancer patients also have a high mortality rate of 90%, indicating that cancer is a major health problem both in Thailand and around the world. Physical manifestations of cancer include pain in the organs where cancer has already spread and side effects of treatment, such as chemotherapy and radiation, which adversely impact the mental state of cancer patients. Increased stress often results in other subsequent health conditions. Thus, identifying stress quickly and promptly in cancer patients through proper stress management is important. Objective: To develop and monitor accurate stress evaluation according to the self-perceptions (Thai version of the Modified Symptoms of Stress Inventory, Modified SOSI) of cancer patients in Thailand. Research Methodology: This study consists of three steps according to the research guidelines of Wongwiwatthananukit, Newton, and Popovich (2002): (1) the process of creating and developing tools; (2) the process of reviewing questions concerning the tools by experts; and (3) testing procedures for the use of the tools. Results: Content consistency using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient from 30 samples were determined to be .906. Investigation of the construct validity of the SOSI found that the relationships indicated in stress consisted of physical, mental, and behavioral. Significant relationships between these three aspects were determined by the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling as adequacy = 0.80, and Bartlett’s test of sphericity gave statistical significance at 0.05. The most important indicator was the physical, followed by the mental, while the behavioral had the least weight importance. Conclusion: The results of this study confirm that the Thai version of the Modified Symptoms of Stress Inventory (Modified SOSI), comprising 30 questions, was able to evaluate stress, including physical, mental and behavioral responses to stress. This inventory was considered concise and appropriate for cancer patients and can be used with other populations.