Poster Presentation 2025 Joint Meeting of the COSA ASM and IPOS Congress

The content and psychometric properties of measures assessing cancer screening related anticipatory anxiety: a systematic review (126508)

Katelyn Collins 1 2 , Emma Pearse 2 , Jazmin Vicario 1 2 , Nathan Harrison 3 , Chloe Maxwell-Smith 4 5 , Joanne Shaw 6 , Monika Janda 7 , Saira Sanjida 8 , Amanda Hutchinson 9 , Amy Pearn 10 , Lisa Grech 11 12 , Sana Ishaque 13 , Tiffany Fazon 6 , Tara Clinton-McHarg 14
  1. School of Psychology and Wellbeing, University of Southern Queensland, Springfield, QLD, Australia
  2. Cancer Council Queensland, Fortitude Valley, QUEENSLAND, Australia
  3. Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  4. School of Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
  5. Curtin Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Health Scienecs, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
  6. Psycho-Oncology Cooperative Research Group, School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
  7. Centre for Health Services Research, Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
  8. Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
  9. Justice and Society, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, Australia
  10. The Gene Council, North Perth, WA, Australia
  11. School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
  12. Department of Medicine, Monash Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
  13. Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  14. Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

Objectives: Anticipatory anxiety can both deter and facilitate participation in cancer screening. A recent review identified measures which have been used to assess anticipatory anxiety. However, the characteristics of these measures have not been explored. This review aimed to assess the content and psychometric properties of measures which have been used to assess cancer screening-related anticipatory anxiety in asymptomatic adults.

Sample and setting: The search strategy outlined in the previous systematic review was updated to identify any new measures. Online database searches (PsycINFO, MEDLINE) and reference list scanning were used to identify papers which described the development and validation of identified measures. Measures were eligible for inclusion in the review if they were: i) published in peer-review articles, ii) reported in English, and iii) had at least one paper describing their psychometric development and/or validation in an early cancer detection setting.

Procedure: General measure characteristics (e.g., number of items, subscales) were extracted. Item content was assessed against the conceptual domains of anticipatory anxiety as defined by Goodwin et al. (2022). Content validity and measurement properties of each measure were assessed against the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) criteria.

Results: Preliminary results found that 78 measures met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 41% (n=32) were established psychometric measures, and 59% (n=46) were bespoke measures developed to address unique study aims related to cancer screening and anticipatory anxiety. Established measures assessed both generalised (44%, n=14) and disease-specific (56%, n=18) forms of anticipatory anxiety. Of the disease-specific measures, 67% (n=12) focused explicitly on cancer-related anxiety. There was heterogeneity in the observed quality and psychometric properties of the included measures.

Conclusions: Our findings will aid researchers and clinicians in selecting appropriate and high-quality measurement tools to assess anticipatory anxiety related to cancer screening.