Abstract
This study describes the psychometric properties of a Hong Kong Chinese version of the short form of the Support Person’s Unmet Needs Survey (SPUNS-SF) for caregivers of patients with cancer. A convenience sample of 280 patient-caregiver dyads was recruited between April and June 2018. A subsample of 70 caregivers completed the survey again, two weeks later. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) examined the instrument’s factorial structure, ordinal alpha coefficients evaluated the internal consistency, and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) assessed the test-retest reliability. Convergence validity was evaluated by the correlations with sleep disturbance and caregiver burden in caregivers. The Hong Kong Chinese version of the SPUNS-SF (SPUNS-SFHKC) had a high completion rate of 96.8% (271/280) among caregivers. The original five-factor model provided an acceptable fit with the data in the CFA. The ordinal alpha coefficients were 0.866–0.945, and the two-week test-retest reliabilities were 0.524–0.678. The correlations of the five domains of the SPUNS-SFHKC with caregiver burden were 0.257–0.446, and for sleep disturbance were 0.075–0.464. The SPUNS-SFHKC has a suitable factor structure and psychometric properties for use in assessing unmet supportive needs among Chinese caregivers of patients with cancer. The applicability of the instrument for long-term use still needs to be studied.
Highlights
The incidence of cancer in Hong Kong has been increasing
Regarding the average daily time spent in caring for the patient, 30.7% reported that it was more than seven hours
PSQI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; CSI, Caregiver Strain Index; ** p-Value < 0.01, * p-Value < 0.05. This was the first study to use a confirmatory approach to examine the psychometric properties of the Support Person’s Unmet Needs Survey (SPUNS)-SFHKC using a sample of Chinese caregivers of cancer patients recruited from hospitals
Summary
The incidence of cancer in Hong Kong has been increasing. In 2016, the number of new cancer cases reached 31,468, with 50% having been diagnosed at age ≥ 65 [1]. Cancer patients are living longer, but their well-being might be poor. The pressure is being put on already tight medical resources. Cancer was the second major cause of inpatient attendances in. 2014, accounting for 12.2% of the total number of attendances in all hospitals [2]. With the aging of the population and long life expectancies, the cancer burden in Hong Kong is growing tremendously [3]
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