Fear of cancer recurrence in patients with non-metastatic melanoma: Spanish validation and disease-related factors.

INTRODUCTION

It is essential for clinicians to understand the phenomenon of fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) in order to understand the psychological impact it has on patients with melanoma.

OBJECTIVES

To validate an FCR questionnaire in Spanish for patients with non-metastatic melanoma and to describe the clinical and demographic variables associated with FCR in these patients.

METHODS

Patients diagnosed with non-metastatic melanoma were selected. The questionnaire was translated and adapted to Spanish following international guidelines. The internal consistency, construct validity, and temporal stability of the questionnaire were analysed using Cronbach's alpha, confirmatory factor analysis, and test-retest reliability, respectively. Following this, the correlation between FCR scores and the study variables was evaluated.

RESULTS

A total of 123 patients were included in the study. The translated and adapted questionnaire showed high reliability (overall Cronbach's alpha 0.834), temporal stability (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.8), and unidimensionality. The mean FCR score was 16.1 ± 6.7. The highest FCR scores were observed in women and young patients (p < 0.01). Patients with a personal history of cancer, facial melanoma, or skin graft reconstruction also obtained a high FCR score (p < 0.05). No differences were found between FCR and other tumour characteristics, such as the Breslow index or the time since diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS

This validated questionnaire is suitable for evaluating FCR. We also identified factors that tend to increase FCR scores, thus allowing clinicians to identify patients at risk and start preventive measures.