Transcultural Adaptation and Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the FCR7 Questionnaire for Assessing Fear of Recurrence in Cancer Patients: FCR6/7-SP.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Fear of recurrence is one of the main issues affecting cancer patients after the completion of treatment. Despite the development of various assessment tools at the international level, there is a lack of validated questionnaires in Spanish. For this reason, the aim of this study is to conduct a transcultural adaptation and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Fear of Cancer Recurrence (FCR7) questionnaire.

METHODS

We carried out translation and transcultural adaptation of the FCR7 scale, content validity through expert review, and face validity with a pilot test in the first phase. In the second phase, construct validity was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis, along with reliability (internal consistency), convergent-divergent validation, and known-groups validation in a sample of 315 individuals with a history of cancer. Descriptive and inferential analysis was performed using JAMOVI© v.2.3.24., confirmatory factor analysis with FACTOR© v.12.02.01x64 bits, and Rasch analysis with JMetrik© v.2.0.

RESULTS

Aiken's coefficient exceeded 0.75 for all items, indicating acceptable face validity for the instrument. Two unidimensional models were obtained for the instrument, FCR7-SP and FCR6-SP, both showing acceptable fit values and adequate reliability (omega coefficient = 0.933 [95% CI: 0.922-0.944] and 0.942 [95% CI: 0.931-0.951], respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

The Spanish version of the FCR7 is valid and reliable for assessing fear of cancer recurrence in the Spanish population, with two models available for its application (FCR7-SP and FCR6-SP). The availability of this tool will enable the evaluation of this phenomenon in clinical practice and a more effective approach to addressing its consequences.