Abstract OT1-01-06: POSITIVE: A study evaluating Pregnancy, disease outcome and safety of interrupting endocrine therapy for premenopausal women with endocrine responsIVE breast cancer who desire pregnancy (IBCSG 48-14/BIG 8-13)

The European Portuguese version of the Reproductive Concerns After Cancer Scale (RCACS): A psychometric validation for young adult female cancer survivors

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the 18-item Reproductive Concerns After Cancer Scale (RCACS) among young adult female cancer survivors.

METHODS

The psychometric validation was conducted based on a convenience sample of 192 cancer survivors aged between 18 and 40 years. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to test the factor structure of the Portuguese version of RCACS and reliabilities were examined. Convergent and discriminant validity was also used to assess the construct validity. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core-30 (EORT QLQ-C30) and the need for parenthood and rejection of child-free lifestyle subscales of the Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI) were used as convergent measures.

RESULTS

A five-factor model was obtained with acceptable fit indexes and internal consistencies (.72<α<.89): (1) fertility potential, (2) children's health risk and future life, (3) partner disclosure, (4) barriers to getting pregnant/having children and (5) acceptance. Overall, convergent and discriminant validities were confirmed. Levels of anxiety and depression symptoms as well as health-related quality of life (QoL) had weak-to-moderate associations with reproductive concerns. Women who had a child or did not want a biological child were less concerned.

CONCLUSION

This scale proved to be a reliable and valid measure of reproductive concerns for the Portuguese population with potential relevance for application in clinical practice.