Psychometric Characteristics of a Patient Reported Outcome Measure on Ego-Integrity and Despair among Cancer Patients.

<h4>Purpose</h4>To evaluate psychometric characteristics of a questionnaire (the Northwestern Ego-integrity Scale (NEIS)) on ego-integrity (the experience of wholeness and meaning in life, even in spite of negative experiences) and despair (the experience of regret about the life one has...

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Main Authors: Gitta Kleijn, Lenneke Post, Birgit I Witte, Ernst T Bohlmeijer, Gerben J Westerhof, Pim Cuijpers, Irma M Verdonck-de Leeuw
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0156003&type=printable
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author Gitta Kleijn
Lenneke Post
Birgit I Witte
Ernst T Bohlmeijer
Gerben J Westerhof
Pim Cuijpers
Irma M Verdonck-de Leeuw
author_facet Gitta Kleijn
Lenneke Post
Birgit I Witte
Ernst T Bohlmeijer
Gerben J Westerhof
Pim Cuijpers
Irma M Verdonck-de Leeuw
author_sort Gitta Kleijn
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Purpose</h4>To evaluate psychometric characteristics of a questionnaire (the Northwestern Ego-integrity Scale (NEIS)) on ego-integrity (the experience of wholeness and meaning in life, even in spite of negative experiences) and despair (the experience of regret about the life one has led, and feelings of sadness, failure and hopelessness) among cancer patients.<h4>Methods</h4>Cancer patients (n = 164) completed patient reported outcome measures on ego-integrity and despair (NEIS), psychological distress, anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)), and quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30 (cancer survivors, n = 57) or EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL (advanced cancer patients, n = 107)). Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to assess construct validity. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess internal consistency. Convergent validity was tested based on a priori defined hypotheses: a higher level of ego-integrity was expected to be related to a higher level of quality of life, and lower levels of distress, depression and anxiety; a higher level of despair was expected to be related to a lower level of quality of life, and higher levels of distress, depression and anxiety.<h4>Results</h4>The majority of all items (94.5%) of the NEIS were completed by patients and single item missing rate was below 2%. The two subscales, labeled as Ego-integrity (5 items) and Despair (4 items) had acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha .72 and .61, respectively). The Ego-integrity subscale was not significantly associated with quality of life, distress, anxiety, or depression. The Despair subscale correlated significantly (p <.001) with quality of life (r = -.29), distress (r = .44), anxiety (r = .47) and depression (r = .32).<h4>Conclusion</h4>The NEIS has good psychometric characteristics to assess ego-integrity and despair among cancer patients.
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spelling doaj-art-9bdd7970091f4972b8373e05ef0d6d392025-08-20T02:15:41ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-01115e015600310.1371/journal.pone.0156003Psychometric Characteristics of a Patient Reported Outcome Measure on Ego-Integrity and Despair among Cancer Patients.Gitta KleijnLenneke PostBirgit I WitteErnst T BohlmeijerGerben J WesterhofPim CuijpersIrma M Verdonck-de Leeuw<h4>Purpose</h4>To evaluate psychometric characteristics of a questionnaire (the Northwestern Ego-integrity Scale (NEIS)) on ego-integrity (the experience of wholeness and meaning in life, even in spite of negative experiences) and despair (the experience of regret about the life one has led, and feelings of sadness, failure and hopelessness) among cancer patients.<h4>Methods</h4>Cancer patients (n = 164) completed patient reported outcome measures on ego-integrity and despair (NEIS), psychological distress, anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)), and quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30 (cancer survivors, n = 57) or EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL (advanced cancer patients, n = 107)). Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to assess construct validity. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess internal consistency. Convergent validity was tested based on a priori defined hypotheses: a higher level of ego-integrity was expected to be related to a higher level of quality of life, and lower levels of distress, depression and anxiety; a higher level of despair was expected to be related to a lower level of quality of life, and higher levels of distress, depression and anxiety.<h4>Results</h4>The majority of all items (94.5%) of the NEIS were completed by patients and single item missing rate was below 2%. The two subscales, labeled as Ego-integrity (5 items) and Despair (4 items) had acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha .72 and .61, respectively). The Ego-integrity subscale was not significantly associated with quality of life, distress, anxiety, or depression. The Despair subscale correlated significantly (p <.001) with quality of life (r = -.29), distress (r = .44), anxiety (r = .47) and depression (r = .32).<h4>Conclusion</h4>The NEIS has good psychometric characteristics to assess ego-integrity and despair among cancer patients.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0156003&type=printable
spellingShingle Gitta Kleijn
Lenneke Post
Birgit I Witte
Ernst T Bohlmeijer
Gerben J Westerhof
Pim Cuijpers
Irma M Verdonck-de Leeuw
Psychometric Characteristics of a Patient Reported Outcome Measure on Ego-Integrity and Despair among Cancer Patients.
PLoS ONE
title Psychometric Characteristics of a Patient Reported Outcome Measure on Ego-Integrity and Despair among Cancer Patients.
title_full Psychometric Characteristics of a Patient Reported Outcome Measure on Ego-Integrity and Despair among Cancer Patients.
title_fullStr Psychometric Characteristics of a Patient Reported Outcome Measure on Ego-Integrity and Despair among Cancer Patients.
title_full_unstemmed Psychometric Characteristics of a Patient Reported Outcome Measure on Ego-Integrity and Despair among Cancer Patients.
title_short Psychometric Characteristics of a Patient Reported Outcome Measure on Ego-Integrity and Despair among Cancer Patients.
title_sort psychometric characteristics of a patient reported outcome measure on ego integrity and despair among cancer patients
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0156003&type=printable
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