Validation of a sternal skin conductance criterion for measuring hot flashes in breast cancer patients

Abstract

This study aimed to establish the sternal skin conductance level (SCL) increase that would optimally detect hot flashes among breast cancer patients. Fifty-six women who had completed a similar treatment protocol for a first diagnosis of breast cancer within the previous 3 months wore an ambulatory sternal skin conductance device for one home-based daytime recording of hot flashes. A total of 199 hot flashes were reported by the participants using the event marker. A 2-μS (μmho) SCL increase within a 30-second period, the criterion typically used, had a sensitivity of only 32% and a specificity of 97%. Comparatively, the alternative criterion proposed here, a 1.2-μmho SCL increase, yielded a sensitivity of 61% and a specificity of 90%. This study provides evidence that a lower SCL criterion should be used to better detect objectively recorded hot flashes among breast cancer patients. Further work is needed to validate the proposed criterion among this population.